
HOW-THE 
PEOPLE- RULE 

HOXIE 





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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



CIVICS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



BY 

charles Deforest hoxie, Pd.m. 

LATE MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK BAR, AUTHOR OF "CIVICS FOR 
NEW YORK STATE" 



REVISED AND ADAPTED TO THE USE OF THE 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CONNECTICUT 

BY 

B. NORMAN STRONG 

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ARSENAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, 
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 




SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY 
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 






\t 



Copyright, 1903, 1916, by 
SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY 



MAR 1 1 1916 
©CU427228 

(I 



PREFACE 

This little book is to be used by the children of the 
grammar schools. For this reason it gives considerably 
less attention to the formal side of civil government and 
more to practical and ethical features than is usual with 
textbooks on this subject. It aims, by concrete illus- 
trations, easily understood by the child, to lead our boys 
and girls to see for themselves the need for government 
and law, to see also the need for good government; and, 
further, to see that this is possible only as the citizen and 
voter does day by day those things necessary to bring 
about and maintain good government. 

In pursuance of these ends the child is introduced at 
once to civic features touching his own daily life — the 
laws of the street, the classroom, and the school. As he 
reads he discovers the reasons for these laws. He feels 
himself a part of a community benefited by government 
and law. He feels a personal interest in maintaining the 
law. By easy steps he is then led to a consideration of 
the more important features of our local, state, and na- 
tional forms of government. The subjects of taxes, 
party machinery, and elections are presented simply and 
comprehensively, and an effort is made to give our young 
people a clear idea of some of the great questions now 
dividing the voters. 

The need of such instruction in the grammar schools 
cannot be questioned. The vast majority of our boys 
and girls never reach the high schools, where civics is 



4 PREFACE 

a recognized formal study. Most of them leave school 
practically uninstructed in this important subject. What 
information they then get is at best fragmentary and 
often from prejudiced and partisan sources. It is hoped 
that this book will aid in developing in the grammar 
schools more general instruction in the simple elementary 
features of civil government. 

Attention is here called to the extracts from eminent 
writers that follow each chapter of this book. None is 
given that is not appropriate to the text, and that is not 
at the same time an inspiration to civic virtue and worthy 
of being memorized by the student. Suggestive ques- 
tions at the end of the chapters stimulate original thought 
and emphasize salient features of the text. 

C. DeF. Hoxie. 












CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Why We Have Laws . . . .11 

II. How Laws Are Made and Enforced . . 17 

III. Voters and Citizens ... . . .25 

IV. Taxes 33 

V. Government in the Town . . . .42 

VI. Government in the Village . . . .55 

VII. City Government: Some Things It Does for 

the People ...... 63 

VIII. City Government: How It Is Carried On . 73 
IX. State Government: How It Came About — 

What It Does for the People . .83 

X. Government in the State: How It Is Carried 

On— -The County 90 

XI. Government in the United States: How It 

Came About 1 — What It Does for the People 103 
XII. How the United States Government Is 

Carried On . . . . . .113 

XIII. Some Rights and Duties .... 123 

XIV. Going to Law 132 

XV. Parties and Elections ..... 140 
XVI. Some Questions Dividing the Voters . . 150 









' 



MAPS 

PAGE 

Map of Springfield, Illinois, Showing Division into 

Wards 20 

Map of Fourth Ward, Springfield, Illinois, Showing 

Election Districts ...... 30 

Map of Polk County, Iowa, Showing Division into 

Townships ........ 43 

Map of Rhode Island, Showing Towns . . .45 
Map of Virginia, Showing Division into Counties 47 
Map of Connecticut, Showing Division into Five 

Congressional Districts . . . . .95 



AMERICA 

Nor force nor fraud shall sunder us! ye 

Who north or south, on east or western land, 

Native to noble sounds, say truth for truth, 

Freedom for freedom, love for love, and God 

For God; ye who in eternal youth 

Speak with a living and creative flood 

This universal English, and do stand 

Its breathing book; live worthy of that grand 

Heroic utterance — parted, yet a whole, 

Far, yet unsevered — children brave and free 

Of the great Mother-tongue, and ye shall be 

Lords of an empire wide as Shakespeare's soul, 

Sublime as Milton's universal theme, 

And rich as Chaucer's speech, and fair as Spenser's dream. 

Sydney Dobell. 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



CHAPTER I 

WHY WE HAVE LAWS 

Every wide-awake boy likes a game of ball, 
and every boy knows that this game is best 
played where there is plenty of room, as in a 
vacant lot or an open field. Sometimes boys 
try to play ball on the streets. I watched such 
a game not long ago in the crowded street of a 
great city. At first everything went well; but 
soon the ball flew past the boy at the bat, and 
past another boy who tried hard to catch it. 
It bounded over the sidewalk, just missing a 
passing woman. It struck a window, and broke 
a pane of glass. One of the boys, in his eager- 
ness to get the ball, was nearly run over by a 
trolley-car. Another ran against an old gentle- 
man, almost knocking him down. Just then a 
policeman appeared, and the boys, who a mo- 
ment before had been merrily playing, scattered 
in every direction. Why? Because there is a law 
against playing ball in the streets of that city. 



12 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

LAWS ARE MADE TO PROTECT PERSONS AND 
PROPERTY 

Why should an innocent game like ball- 
playing be forbidden on the city streets? Why 
should there be a law against it? We may 
answer these questions for ourselves if we think 
for a moment of the passing woman just missed 
by the flying ball, of the broken pane of glass, 
of the old gentleman nearly knocked down, of 
the boy who just escaped being run over by the 
car. We can see that ball-playing interferes 
with the comfort and safety of those who have 
a right to use the streets as passers-by; that it 
may cause injury to property along the streets; 
and, finally, that it is dangerous for the players. 
So the law forbids it. It forbids it in order to 
protect persons and property from injury. 
This protection of persons and property is one 
good reason for very many laws. 

OTHER REASONS FOR LAW 

But there are other reasons for law. What 
boy or girl has not been a member of some club or 
society? It may have been a lawn tennis club 
or a debating society. We all know the need of 






WHY WE HAVE LAWS 13 

rules in such organizations. Think of conducting 
a debate without order and without a chairman 
to preside ! Think of playing tennis without any 
attention to the rules of the game ! There would 
be little pleasure or profit in it. Think now of 
trying to do a large piece of work, like building a 
bridge or paving a street, without plan or rules, 
and with no one to direct the workmen! What 
would happen? Each man might insist on do- 
ing the work in a different way. Some might be 
in favor of using one kind of material, others in 
favor of another kind. Some might wish to use 
bricks, others stone, still others wood. The parts 
would not fit together. There would be disputes, 
confusion, loss of time and temper. The work 
would be neither well nor quickly done. We 
must have rules to govern the doing of such 
work, and a leader to direct the workmen. 

LAW IN THE SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES 

In playing games, disputes sometimes arise 
which must be settled before the game can go on. 
In the game of baseball an umpire decides such 
disputes, the players agreeing beforehand to 
abide by his decision. The umpire is thus a kind 



14 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

of judge whose duty it is to enforce the rules of 
the game. Disputes between men in business 
are often settled in much the same way, by tak- 
ing the disputed question into court before a 
judge. The judge decides what is the law in the 
matter, and the people in dispute abide by his 
decision. 

WE INHERIT MANY LAWS 

We have laws because our fathers and our 
fathers' fathers before us' had laws. There has 
never been a time in the known history of the 
world when men have lived together without 
some kind of government and law. Many of our 
present laws may be traced hundreds of years 
back in the practices of our ancestors. Thus, 
the law that a man accused of crime may be tried 
before a jury of twelve men of his neighborhood 
may be traced through more than seven hun- 
dred years back to the time of King Henry II 
of England. 

NO REAL FREEDOM WITHOUT LAW 

If we try to imagine a school conducted with- 
out rules and teachers, we can understand some- 



WHY WE HAVE LAWS 15 

thing of the condition of a people without laws. 
In a school without rules every pupil would 
be " a law unto himself." He might study little 
or much, as he pleased. He could recite his les- 
sons if he felt like it and could find some one 
to hear him. He could be quiet and orderly 
or noisy and disorderly. We can understand 
that in such a school little or no progress 
would be made; for in the confusion that would 
result from everybody doing as he pleased, no 
pupil would be free to study his lessons in peace 
and quietness. We must have law and order 
that we may be free to obtain an education in 
school. Much the same thing holds true in every 
department of life. If men are to live together 
peaceably and work together successfully, each 
one enjoying the fruits of his own labor, there 
must be laws and a government to enforce the 
law. 

To sum up, then, laws are needed to protect 
persons and property, to direct the doing of vari- 
ous kinds of public work, and to preserve peace 
and order in society. There can be no real free- 
dom unless we are protected by law. 



16 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



Suggestive Questions 

Why are rules needed in school? 

Do you think you would learn very much under a teacher 
who did not keep order in the school? 

What is the business of the umpire in a game of baseball? 
In what way do the judges in our courts resemble the umpire? 

Name any good law in force in your locality. Give a reason 
for it. 



Let reverence of the law be breathed by every mother 
to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught 
in schools, seminaries and colleges; let it be written in 
primers, spelling books and almanacs; let it be preached 
from pulpits, and proclaimed in legislative halls, and 
enforced in courts of justice; in short, let it become the 
political religion of the nation. — Abraham Lincoln. 



CHAPTER II 
HOW LAWS ARE MADE AND ENFORCED 

We have seen why we have laws, and we 
know that we live under the guidance and pro- 
tection of many laws. Whence come these laws? 
How are they made and enforced? For answer 
let us go back to the law forbidding ball-playing 
on the city streets. If we live in the city we 
know where the city hall is located. That is 
the place where the mayor has his office, and 
over which the flag is kept flying. What is done 
at the city hall? Perhaps we know that the city 
council or board of aldermen meets there. These 
men made the law forbidding ball-playing. 

CITY LAWMAKERS 

Every city has its body of lawmakers, known 
usually as the city council or board of aldermen. 
They meet at the city hall, usually as often as 
once a month, to discuss matters relating to the 
city. There they make rules or laws governing 



18 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

the use of the city streets, parks, public build- 
ings, etc. Such laws are known as City Ordi- 
nances. Thus, a city ordinance may require 
bicyclers to have lamps and bells on their wheels 
while riding in the city after dark. Another 
ordinance may forbid the driving of automo- 
biles beyond a certain speed limit. Under still 
others, peddlers are licensed and newsmen and 
bootblacks are given permission to have stands 
in the streets. 

LAWS IN THE COUNTRY 

If we live in the country we find ourselves sub- 
ject to law there also. Thus, in the country, a 
law forbids us to shoot song-birds. Another law 
forbids the taking of certain fishes with a net. 
In some places the law compels the farmers to cut 
down and destroy thistles and other injurious 
plants growing along their roadsides. In the 
country, laws are sometimes made by the voters 
in the town-meeting, sometimes by town trustees, 
and sometimes by county commissioners. Every 
political division, such as the city, village, town, 
county, state, and the United States, has its own 
body of lawmakers. 



HOW LAWS ARE MADE AND ENFORCED 19 

THE RIGHT TO MAKE LAWS 

What gives these men the right to make laws? 
How do they obtain this great power? For 
answer let us consider again our city board of 
aldermen. If we look on a large map of our city 
we shall probably find it divided into districts 
called Wards. The wards are usually bounded 
by streets, and each ward has about the same 
number of people living in it. As a rule, the 
voters in each ward choose once a year one 
member of the board of aldermen or city council. 
Thus, a city of twenty wards might have twenty 
aldermen. The lawmakers so chosen are said to 
represent or stand for the people choosing them. 
Our city ordinances are thus made by representa- 
tives of the voters. In the same way, laws in the 
other political divisions are made by lawmakers 
chosen usually by the voters. In this indirect 
way the people themselves make the laws under 
which we live. 

HOW LAWS ARE ENFORCED 

We saw how the ball-players on the city street 
scattered at the approach of the policeman. 
Why did they run? Because they knew it to be 



20 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



NORTH GRAND AVE. S 



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WARD 



AKH HT - 



LIMITS *""T_ 



SECOND 



R D 



CARPENTER ST. 

SEVENTH 



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W A 



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FIRST 



AOAMS ST. ABAMS ST, 



S I X 



W A 



R D 



SOUTH GRAND AVE. 



MAP OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, SHOWING DIVISION INTO WARDS 



HOW LAWS ARE MADE AND ENFORCED 21 

the duty of the policeman to arrest persons play- 
ing ball on the street. But who appoints the 
policeman and gives him power to arrest law- 
breakers? In some cities policemen are ap- 
pointed under laws made by the city council. In 
others they are appointed by officers who act 
under state laws. The law makes it the duty 
of the policeman to enforce the city ordinances 
— that is, to see that these ordinances are 
obeyed. We have many officers besides police- 
men whose duty it is to enforce or execute the 
laws. At the head of the city's law-enforcing 
officers is the mayor, who is chosen by the voters 
of the entire city. So each political division has 
its officers, chosen by its people, to enforce its 
laws. Chief among these are the village presi- 
dent in the village, the constable in the town, the 
sheriff in the county, the governor in the state, 
and the president in the United States. 

COURTS AND JUDGES 

A person arrested for breaking the law may 
not be punished at the pleasure of the policeman 
who arrests him. He must be taken into court 
and tried for his offense before a judge or a jury. 



22 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

If he is found guilty of the offense he is then 
sentenced by the judge to a punishment fixed by 
the law. In our judges and jurymen, and in our 
lawyers who prosecute and defend persons ac- 
cused of crime, we see a third class of public 
officers who have to do with the law. 

THREE DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT 

We have now discovered three kinds of public 
officers. They are, first, those who make laws, 
such as aldermen, and members of the city coun- 
cil; second, officers who enforce laws, such as 
mayor and policemen; and thirdly, officers be- 
fore whom persons accused of breaking the law 
are taken for trial and sentence, such as the 
judges of our courts. These three kinds of pub- 
lic officers constitute three departments of gov- 
ernment. The first, or law-making officers, are 
together called the Legislative Department; the 
second, or law-enforcing officers, are called the 
Executive Department; and the third, composed 
of judges and courts, form the Judicial Depart- 
ment. 



HOW LAWS ARE MADE AND ENFORCED 23 

SUMMARY 

To sum up, then, nearly every political divi- 
sion, such as the city, village, town, county, state, 
and the United States, has its own public officers, 
chosen by its voters, to make and enforce its own 
local laws. Thus the city council, or board of 
aldermen, makes most city laws, and the mayor 
is at the head of the officers who enforce them. 
Laws of the state are made by the state legisla- 
ture 1 and enforced by officers, at the head of 
w^hom is the governor; while United States laws 
are made by Congress and enforced by the Presi- 
dent and other executive officers of the United 
States. 



Suggestive Questions 

If you live in the city, give the number of your ward. Who 
represents it in the city council? For how long is he elected? 

How many members in your city council? Are any of them 
chosen by the voters of the entire city? 

Is there an ordinance against fast driving in your city? Must 
street-peddlers get a license to do business in your city? If so, 
where and how do they obtain it? 

If you live in the country, do you know of any bridge over 

1 Sometimes called the General Assembly, General Court, or 
Legislative Assembly. 



24 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

which it is an offense to drive faster than a walk? If so, what 
is the penalty? Who made this law? 

What persons may vote in your locality? 

What public officers in your locality are charged with the 
duty of keeping order on the streets? 

May a man arrested for drunkenness be locked up at the 
pleasure of the person arresting him? Or must he be tried and 
sentenced by a judge? 

Name an officer of the Legislative Department. Of the 
Executive Department. Of the Judicial Department. 



Every free government is necessarily complicated, 
because all such governments establish restraints, as 
well on the power of government itself as on that of in- 
dividuals. If we will abolish the distinction of branches, 
and have but one branch; if we will abolish jury trials, 
and leave all to the judge; and if we place the executive 
power in the same hands, we may readily simplify 
government. We may easily bring it to the simplest 
of all possible forms — a pure despotism. But a sepa- 
ration of departments, so far as practicable, and the 
preservation of clear lines of division between them, is 
the fundamental idea in the creation of all our consti- 
tutions; and, doubtless, the continuance of regulated 
liberty depends on maintaining these boundaries. 

Daniel Webster. 



CHAPTER III 

VOTERS AND CITIZENS 

- Nearly every boy and girl can recall some 
scenes of election day. If living in a great city, 
they will remember how days before the voting 
took place they saw signs in certain windows 
reading something like this : 



Board of Registry Meets Here 



Such a sign told that election officers waited in- 
side to take the names and addresses of persons 
qualified to vote at the coming election. 

We remember the crowds about the voting- 
places when they opened on the morning of elec- 
tion day. Men of all classes — old and young, 
rich and poor — stood in line, waiting to go in 
and vote. We remember the counting of bal- 
lots at night, when the voting was over, the 
flaring bulletins announcing the result, the bon- 
fires, and the cheers of the men whose friends 



26 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

had won. If living in the country, we may recall 
somewhat similar scenes about the town hall or 
other building where the voting took place. 

It is at elections like these that the voters 
choose the public officers who make and enforce 
our laws. At the voting-places boards of alder- 
men, mayors of cities, governors of great states, 
and the President of the United States, 1 are 
chosen by the voters. 

WHO MAY VOTE 

Not every one is a voter, and the voters have 
different qualifications in the different states. 
In every state, however, all male citizens twenty- 
one years old and over, as a rule, may vote; but 
criminals in prison and paupers in poorhouses 
are not allowed to vote. In some states 2 women 
as well as men may vote. A few states 3 allow 
no one to vote who cannot read English; while 

1 The President is chosen by electors chosen by the voters. 

2 Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington, California, 
Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, Nevada, Montana. In Illinois, women 
may vote for city and national officers. In several states women 
may vote for school officers. 

3 Connecticut, Wyoming, California, Delaware, Massachusetts, 
Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Caro- 
lina, Louisiana, Washington. 






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" THIS BALLOT SHALL BE MARKED WITH A PENCIL HAVING BLACK LEAD. 

TO VOTE A STRAIGHT TICKET, MAKE A CROSS-MARK ' X ' WITHIN-THE CIRCLE ABOVE ONE OF THE PARTY COLUMNS. 

IF THE COLUMN SO MARKED IN THE CIRCLE FOR A STRAIGHT TICKET DOES NOT CONTAIN THE NAMES OF CANDIDATES FOR ALL OFFICES FOR WHICH TOU ARE EN- 
TITLED TO VOTE OR THE NUMBER OF NAMES OF CANDIDATES FOR ANY OFFICE EQUAL TO THE NUMBER FOR WHOM YOU ARE ENTITLED TO VOTE, YOU MAY WRITE, IN THE 
SPACE IN SAID COLUMN DESIGNATED FOR SUCH OFFICE AND CONTAINING THE WORDS ' NO NOMINATION,' THE NAME OF ANY PERSON FOR WHOM YOU DESIRE TO VOTE FOR 
6UCH OFFICE, OR MAY PLACE A CROSS-MARK ' X ' IN THE VOTING SPACE AT THE LEFT OF THE NAME OF ANY CANDIDATE FOR SUCH OFFICE APPEARING IN ANY OTHER 
PARTY COLUMN. 

TO VOTE FOR A PORTION ONLY OF THE CANDIDATES WHOSE NAMES APPEAR IN ANY ONE PARTY COLUMN, OR TO VOTE A SPLIT TICKET, THAT IS, FOR CANDIDATES 
OF DIFFERENT PARTIES, MAKE NO CROSS-MARK ' X ' IN ANY CIRCLE AT THE HEAD OF THE BALLOT BUT MAKE A CROSS-MARK ' X ' BEFORE THE NAME OF EACH CANDIDATE 
FOR WHOM YOU VOTE; AND YOU MAY ALSO WRITE, IN THE SPACE IN THE ' BLANK COLUMN ' DESIGNATED FOR THE OFFICE, THE NAME OF ANY PERSON, NOT PRINTED ON 
THE BALLOT, FOR WHOM YOU DESIRE TO VOTE FOR SUCH OFFICE. 

ANY OTHER MARK THAN THE CROSS-MARK ' X ' USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF VOTING WILL RENDER THIS BALLOT VOID. 

IF YOU TEAR, DEFACE, OR WRONGLY MARK THIS BALLOT, RETURN IT AND OBTAIN ANOTHER." 



o 

DEMOCRATIC 



O 

REPUBLICAN 



O 

SOCIALIST 



o 

PROHIBITION 



O 

SOCIALIST LABOR 



o 

PROGRESSIVE 



BUNK COLUMN 



ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT 



ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT 

AND VICE-PRESIDENT 
HARRY O MANCHESTER 



ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT 



ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT 
AND VICE-PRESIDENT 
MARCUS L FLOYD 



AND VICE-PRESIDENT 



CHARLES T COYLE 



ROLLIN S WOODRUFF 



EDWARD STANLEY 



WLLLIAM MENT2K 



WILLIAM BELCHER 



FREDERICK O PLATT 



MELBERT B CART 



CHAUNCEY P GOSS S 



MARTIN F PLUNKETT 



MAX FELDMAN 



OSCAR TANNER 



WILLIAM F RYAN JR 



HENRY B TODD 



EDGAR H ALLYN 



WILLIAM B PERRY JR 



ROBERT SCOVTLLE 



JOHN L KNAPP 



GEORGE B ARNOLD 



EDWARD HAMMOND 



HAROLD B MOWRY 



HENRY P LEZOTTE 



EDWIN D BENEDICT 



HANFORD BIQELOW 



GEORGE A COSGROVB 



SIMEON E BALDWIN 



JOHN P STUDLEY 



GOVERNOR 
SAMUEL E BEARDSLEY 



LIEUTENANT COVERNOR 
LYMAN T TINGIER 



LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR 



LIEUTEN ANT-GO VERNOB 
ROBERT R LA MONTE 



LIEUTEN ANT-GOVERNOR 
FRANK S BUTTERWORTH 



LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR 



TREASURER 
OWARD S ROBERTS 



COMPTROLLER 
DANIEL P DUNN 



FAYETTE L WRIGHT 



COMPTROLLER 
CHARLES T PEACH 



COMPTROLLER 



THOMAS WILKES JR 



REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS 
JEREMIAH DONOVAN 



IN CONGRESS 
ROBERT HUNTER 



;EPRESENTATIVE 



KEPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS 
VBHTEFIELD S1M0NS0N 



REPRESENTATIVE W CONGRESS 



ROBERT THOMPSON 



JUDGE OF PROBATE 



OSCAR BUDD 




JUDGE OF PROBATE 
$0 NOMINATION 



JUDGE OF PROBATE 
NO NOMINATION 



JUDGE OP PROBATE 



REPRESENTATIVE 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 
NO NOMINATION 



JUSTJCES OF THE P 



OF THE PEACE 



REPRESENTATIVE 
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 



NO NOMINATION 



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NO NOMINATION 






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VOTERS AND CITIZENS 27 

in some others, 1 one must first pay certain taxes 
in order to vote. In most states no one may 
vote who is not a citizen of the United States, 
though some allow aliens 2 who intend to remain 
here and become citizens, to vote. And this 
brings us to the question, Who and what are 
citizens? 

WHO AND WHAT ARE CITIZENS? 

The Constitution of the United States says 
that " all persons born or naturalized in the 
United States and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 
the states wherein they reside." 3 Let us study 
these words to find out just what they mean. 

According to this a citizen is: (1) A person 
who is born in the United States, and who is at 
the same time a subject of the United States; or, 
(2) a person naturalized in the United States 
and who is also a subject of the United States. 
What is meant by a " subject of the United 
States" ? An Englishman, a German, or a 

1 Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia, 
Rhode Island, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina. 

2 An alien is the subject of a foreign government. 

3 United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment. 



28 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

Frenchman, living in his own country, is not a 
subject of the United States. Neither is such 
a person traveling in the United States or stop- 
ping temporarily here. Why not? Because he 
intends to make his own country his perma- 
nent home, and to be subject to its government 
and laws. He is, therefore, the subject of a 
foreign nation and an alien to the United States. 
But a person born in the United States and 
remaining here, subject to our laws, is a subject 
of the United States; and he still remains a 
subject of the United States while traveling 
temporarily abroad. 

ALIENS MAY BECOME CITIZENS 

An alien may become a citizen of the United 
States by becoming naturalized here. He may 
be naturalized here by: (1) Living five years 
continuously in the United States; and (2) tak- 
ing an oath that he will no longer remain a 
subject of a foreign government, but that he in- 
tends to become a citizen and support the Con- 
stitution of the United States. 

It may help to make this matter more easily 
understood if we think for a moment of our class 



VOTERS AND CITIZENS 29 

in school as a little nation having its own gov- 
ernment and laws. Every member of our class 
is a " citizen " of the class and subject to its 
rules or laws. We may speak of a pupil of 
another school or class as being an " alien. " 
Such an " alien " may become a " naturalized 
citizen " of our class by leaving his own class 
and being admitted as a pupil into ours. 

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS 

Besides the qualifications for voters already 
described, most states have a law that one must 
live a year in the state before voting, and many 
require the voter to register personally his name 
and address with the election officers some days 
before the time of voting. Can you think of any 
good reason for such a rule? 

HOW PUBLIC OFFICERS ARE CHOSEN 

Each of the smaller political divisions, such as 
the town, village, or city, is divided into election 
districts, 1 and each of these districts has its own 
voting-place and election officers. These offi- 
cers register the names of voters in the district, 

1 Sometimes called " election precincts." 



30 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 





MONROE 














ST. 




A* 




First District 




O 








Second District 












COOK ST. 


» 




LAWR. 


Q. 








* 


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MAP OF FOURTH WARD, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, SHOWING DIVISION 
INTO ELECTION DISTRICTS 



VOTERS AND CITIZENS 31 

take charge of the voting, and count the votes 
after they are cast. On election day, as each 
registered voter goes into the voting-place, a 
printed ballot is handed him, on which are the 
names of persons nominated for office by the 
different political parties. 1 The voter takes 
this ballot into a little booth or stall, closes the 
door behind him, and, with a pencil, indicates 
on the ballot the names of the persons for whom 
he wishes to vote. 2 He then folds the ballot, 
with the names hidden, comes out of the booth 
and gives the ballot, still folded, to an election 
officer, who drops it into the ballot-box. This 
is the secret or so-called Australian method of 
voting, now used in most of the states. The per- 
son who receives the most votes for a particular 
office is elected. In this way the voters choose 
the public officers who make and enforce our 
laws. 

1 Voting machines are used in many states. These count the 
votes as they are made, like an adding machine. 

2 See Chapter XV for a further account of this manner of voting. 



32 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

HONEST AND INTELLIGENT VOTING MAKES FOR GOOD 
GOVERNMENT 

We thus see that the voters, while they do not 
directly make and enforce the laws under which 
we live, are yet indirectly responsible for them. 
If the voters are wise, and select honest and 
capable men for public office, we shall have good 
laws, honestly enforced. If, on the other hand, 
the voters are careless and indifferent in the 
selection of public officers, if they fail to come 
out on election day and exercise their right of 
choice for the men who make and enforce law, 
they cannot complain if they have bad govern- 
ment. 

Suggestive Questions 

Where does the voting take place in your locality? Can 
you give the official names of any of the election officers? 

Who may vote? 

What is a citizen? May a person who is not a citizen vote in 
your state? 

What is an alien? How may an alien become a citizen? 

Why are voters required to register their names with the 
election officers? Describe the ballot used in your state. 

Describe the voting machine, if it is used in your town. 



CHAPTER IV 

TAXES 

We have learned that our laws are made by 
public officers chosen by the voters. We know 
also that these laws are enforced or carried out by 
other officers, some elected, as governors and 
mayors; and some appointed, as policemen, 
firemen, and letter-carriers. A few of these 
officers serve without pay, but most of them 
must have a regular salary in payment for their 
work. Where does the money to pay these 
servants of the people come from? Have you 
ever thought? Suppose the people of your 
town or city vote to build a new schoolhouse. 
Plans must be drawn for the building, and a 
piece of ground must be purchased for it to 
stand upon. Brick, stones, lumber, and other 
materials must be bought. Carpenters and 
masons must be hired and superintended. All 
this public work costs money. Where is it to 
be had? How collected and paid out? 



34 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

TAXES 

Money to pay public officers and to carry on 
the work ordered by the people is usually 
obtained in the form of taxes, and no govern- 
ment would last long that did not have power 
to lay and collect taxes. Who pays the taxes? 
If your father owns a house, you may know that 
once a year the tax collector sends him a bill for 
his share of the tax money to be raised in your 
city, town, or village. If he is a farmer, he pays 
taxes on the value of his farm. If he is a mer- 
chant with a large stock of goods in his store, 
he may be called upon to pay a tax on the value 
of his goods. Thus, everybody owning valuable 
property is supposed to be taxed in proportion 
to its value. May we not say then that the own- 
ers of valuable property pay the taxes neces- 
sary to carry on the work of government? 

EVERYBODY PAYS TAXES 

Directly, yes, the property owners do pay the 
taxes; but, indirectly, everybody is a taxpayer. 
How is this? Suppose you live in a rented 
building. The landlord charges you rent. The 
landlord pays taxes on the value of the building; 



TAXES 35 

so he charges you more in rent than if he had 
no taxes to pay. Thus every rent payer is in 
reality a taxpayer. You buy a pair of shoes of 
a merchant. The merchant has his store in a 
rented building. He helps to pay taxes on the 
building when he pays rent to the landlord. He 
may also have to pay a tax on his stock of shoes. 
He adds these taxes which he pays to the price 
of the shoes which he sells. So every time you 
buy a pair of shoes you help to pay the taxes of 
the landlord and the shoe dealer. You cannot 
buy any article without helping to pay the taxes 
necessary to carry on the work of government. 

Our schoolhouses, our finely paved streets, our 
parks, bridges, and other public conveniences, 
our governors, judges, mayors, policemen, and 
other public officers, are paid for by all the peo- 
ple. Everybody pays a share. So when you 
hear it said of a proposed unnecessary piece 
of public work, or of the creation of some new 
and needless office: " Never mind; the cost will 
come out of the pockets of the property own- 
ers," you will understand that this is not true. 
For you know that everybody must help to pay 
the cost of useless as well as useful public work. 



36 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

HOW TAXES ARE LAID 

Each city and town is usually a district for 
collecting taxes. In each tax district officers 
known as assessors l are chosen — in the country 
districts usually by the voters, in the city usually 
by the mayor or board of aldermen. The asses- 
sors make a list of all the valuable property 2 in 
their particular tax district, with the names of 
its owners. They then divide the total amount 
of money to be raised as taxes by the total value 
of the taxable property in the district, in order 
to find the tax rate. Suppose, for example, 
your city wishes to build a schoolhouse to cost 
$10,000, and suppose that all the houses, lands, 
and other taxable property in the city are worth 
together $10,000,000. Then one dollar's worth 
of property will pay a tax equal to $10,000, the 
cost of the proposed schoolhouse, divided by 
$10,000,000, the value of the taxable property. 
This is a tax of $.001 on the dollar. Suppose 
your father owns a house and lot valued by the 
assessors at $3,000. He will then pay taxes for 

1 Sometimes called tax commissioners. 

2 Churches, schoolhouses, and some other kinds of public property 
are not taxed. 



TAXES 37 

the new schoolhouse equal to 3,000 times $.001, 
or $3. 

COLLECTING THE TAXES 

When the assessors have decided on each per- 
son's share of the taxes, a collector, sometimes 
elected by the voters, sometimes appointed, 
sends a bill to each property owner required to 
pay a tax. If the property owner neglects or 
refuses to pay his tax the collector may have 
the services of policemen, sheriff, or other public 
officers to seize the property and sell it, and to 
take the tax out of the price which it may bring. 

IMPORTANCE OF HONEST AND COMPETENT TAX 
OFFICERS 

In all this we see the importance of having 
honest and able officers to assess and collect the 
taxes, so that no one shall be required to pay 
more than his just share, and so that no one who 
ought to pay may escape taxation. The asses- 
sors, especially, should be men of sound judg- 
ment and integrity, whom no hope of personal 
reward can induce to undervalue the property 
of the wealthy and more powerful taxpayers. 



38 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

OTHER KINDS OF TAXES 

Besides the taxes collected from the owners of 
valuable property there are others, collected at 
the custom houses, on articles brought into the 
United States from foreign countries. These 
are the so-called " tariff " taxes. Still others 
are collected from manufacturers and dealers in 
such articles as distilled liquors and prepared 
tobacco. These are known as " excise " taxes. 
In many places the first cost of streets, street 
lamps, sewers, etc., is collected as a special tax 
from the owners of the land benefited by the 
improvements. In some places, also, every 
male resident 1 is taxed a certain sum each year 
to keep up the roads. Such a tax on the man 
is called a " poll tax/' that is, a tax on each 
head or "poll." 

THE DUTY TO PAY TAXES 

It is everyone's duty to pay his reasonable 
share of the taxes. The law protects all, and 
all should be willing to help support the public 
officers whose duty it is to enforce law. Public 

1 Clergymen, old soldiers, and some others are not required to 
pay the poll tax. 



TAXES 39 

works, such as streets, parks, and schoolhouses, 
are for the benefit of all, and no honorable man 
would think of shirking his share of their ex- 
pense. Suppose the boys in your class buy a 
fine tennis set or a baseball and bat. Suppose 
two or three of the boys refuse to pay their share 
of the cost, yet insist on using the tennis set and 
the bat and ball. You would think these boys 
very mean. You would probably not allow 
them to share in these amusements. Yet these 
boys are like grown people who make use of 
public improvements and are protected by the 
laws, yet try to escape from paying their just 
share of the taxes. 

PUBLIC OFFICE A PUBLIC TRUST 

There is another side to the question of taxes. 
This is the side of the public officers who often 
decide how much of the people's money shall be 
collected and spent as taxes. It is the duty of 
every such officer to put himself in the place of 
the taxpayer, and to be wise and economical in 
his spending of the people's money. He holds 
his office as a trust for the benefit of all the peo- 
ple. It should not be his business to find easy 



40 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

places in the public service for his political and 
personal friends that they may live in comfort 
off the hard-earned money of the taxpayers. It 
is his duty, instead, to see that all public work is 
performed as cheaply and honestly as he would 
have his own work done. An office-holder who 
does not keep this view of public service in mind 
is not worthy of the votes of his fellow-citizens. 

SUMMARY 

We have now learned several important things : 

1. That we must have laws to protect persons 
and property, to preserve peace and order, and 
to direct the doing of needed public work. 

2. That these laws are made and enforced by 
public officers chosen by the voters of the differ- 
ent political divisions, such as the city, village, 
town, county, state, and the United States. 

3. That the public officers of a political divi- 
sion, together with its laws, constitute the gov- 
ernment of the division. 

4. That to pay public officers and carry on the 
work ordered by the voters, money is collected 
from the people in the form of taxes. 

5. That no political division can reasonably 



TAXES 41 

expect to be well governed and its taxes wisely 
and economically spent unless its voters choose 
honest and capable public officers. 

Suggestive Questions 

Why is it necessary to pay taxes? From whom are taxes 
collected? 

What officers in your locality lay and collect the taxes? Are 
they elected by the voters, or appointed by other officers? 

Should a person who owns no property be required to pay 
taxes? Give a reason for your answer. 

What are "tariff" taxes? "Excise" taxes? What kind 
of men should be chosen to estimate the value of property for 
purposes of taxation? If a property owner neglects or refuses 
to pay his taxes how may they be collected? 



For what reason ought equality to be the rule in matters 
of taxation? For the reason that it ought to be so in all 
the affairs of government. A government ought to make 
no distinction of persons or classes in the strength of 
their claims on it. If any one bears less than his fair 
share of the burdens, some other person must suffer 
more than his share. Equality in taxation, therefore, 
as a maxim of politics, means equality of sacrifice. It 
means the apportioning of the contribution of each 
person toward the expenses of government, so that he 
shall feel neither more nor less inconvenience from his 
share of the payment than every other person experiences 
from his. — John Stuart Mill. 



CHAPTER V 

GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 

If we live in the country, outside of a city or 
large village, our schoolhouse probably stands 
in what is known as a township or town. If we 
start from the schoolhouse and travel off in a 
straight line in any direction for three or four 
miles we shall come to the borders of another 
township or town. These two words, " town ,: 
and " township/' mean about the same thing. 
Let us try and find out just what they mean. 

THE WESTERN TOWNSHIP 

If we live in a Western State we shall proba- 
bly find our township to be about six miles long 
and six miles wide, containing about thirty-six 
square miles. How did this come about? More 
than one hundred years ago, when our country 
was new, and the wolf and buffalo roamed over 
its great central plains, most of the land west of 
the Allegheny Mountains belonged to the United 
States. It was not cut up into states as now. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 



43 



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WASHINGTON I 




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MAP OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA, SHOWING DIVISION INTO TOWNSHIPS 



44 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE. 

For the convenience of people who wished to 
settle in this new country the Congress of the 
United States ordered the land surveyed. This 
was done, and the whole territory, both prairie 
and wild forest land, was cut up into squares, 
each six miles long and six miles wide, like 
squares on some gigantic checker-board. Each 
square of land so surveyed was called a town- 
ship. When the people from the East began to 
pour over the mountains, filling this western 
country with farms and settlements, it was grad- 
ually divided into states; but the little square 
townships, surveyed by order of Congress, have 
remained to this day. 

THE TOWN IN THE EAST 

In most of the Eastern States towns were not 
laid out in squares; but each town was formed 
gradually, with irregular boundaries, as the 
Dutch and the Pilgrim Fathers crossed the At- 
lantic and settled along the streams and in the 
pleasant valleys of New York and New England. 
They settled together in groups of families for 
their mutual protection from savage animals 
and the Indians. Each settlement usually had 



GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 



45 



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MAP OF RHODE ISLAND, SHOWING TOWNS 



46 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

its own schoolhouse and church. Its men laid 
out roads between its farms and fields, and or- 
ganized themselves into a company of soldiers for 
its defense. Such a settlement was known as a 
town. The voters of the town made their own 
town laws, chose officers to enforce them, and 
voted taxes upon the property owners to pay for 
roads and bridges, and the support of the church 
and the school. 

SETTLEMENTS IN THE SOUTH 

In the Southern States, in what are now Vir- 
ginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, 
the people who came from Europe did not, as a 
rule, settle in small groups as in New England. 
The soil of the South was favorable for raising 
cotton and tobacco, and each settler of conse- 
quence soon had numbers of slaves who were set 
to work on large plantations, often miles apart. 
Thus the Southern States grew up with few, if 
any, towns like those of New York and New 
England. The people of the more thinly settled 
South united, instead, for purposes of govern- 
ment, in the larger area of the county. 1 

1 See Chapter X, page 96, for a description of the county. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 



47 




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48 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

WHY A TOWN NEEDS LAWS 

Why do the people of a town need town laws? 
We have more than hinted at the answer. Sup- 
pose the road running past our schoolhouse 
should get out of repair. Suppose a bridge 
should wash away. Suppose the schoolhouse 
itself should be destroyed by fire. What would 
be done? The men of the town would have to 
turn out, repair the road, rebuild the bridge, 
erect a new schoolhouse. Who would call out 
these townsmen? Who would direct their work? 
Who would supply materials for the road, the 
bridge, the schoolhouse? Who would pay for 
them? There must be laws relating to all such 
matters. In New England, New York, Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin, and some other northern and 
western states, the voters of the towns make 
such laws in what is known as the town-meeting. 



THE TOWN-MEETING 

In town-meeting, all the voters of the town 
come together in the town hall or some other 
meeting-place. They choose a presiding officer 
and a clerk or secretary to keep a record of the 






GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 49 

meeting. Then if a new bridge is needed, or if 
money is needed to repair a road or to build a 
schoolhouse, some voter may rise in the meeting 
and propose that the necessary money be raised 
and spent. Other voters then speak on the 
matter. When all who wish to speak have been 
heard, the president calls for a vote, " yes " or 
" no," on the question. If the majority present 
vote in favor of the proposition, it becomes a 
town by-law l — that is, a law of the town. 

TOWN EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 

But the people in town-meeting do not simply 
vote to repair a road, build a bridge or school- 
house, and stop there. At every regular town- 
meeting, usually held once a year, in the spring, 
the voters elect town executive officers to enforce 
the by-laws and carry on the public work of the 
town. These officers are given different names 
in the different states. Thus, in the towns of 
New England the chief executive officer is the 
selectman; in New York, Illinois, and Michigan 
he is the supervisor; while in Ohio, Indiana, and 
Iowa he is called the town trustee. 

1 The word " by " in by-law is from a Norse word meaning town. 



50 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

WHERE NO TOWN-MEETING IS HELD 

In many states this work of the town or town- 
ship is planned and carried on without calling 
the voters together in a regular town-meeting. 
Thus, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, In- 
diana, Iowa, and some other states, the voters 
choose town officers known as supervisors or 
trustees, To these officers are left almost en- 
tirely the planning and management of the 
town's public work and the making of its by- 
laws. 

DIRECT AND REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 

These two kinds of town government — with 
the town-meeting and without it — are examples 
of what is known as direct and representative 
democratic * government. In the town-meeting, 
where the voters vote directly, " yes " or " no," 
on matters of interest to the town, we have an 
example of direct democratic government, that 
is, government directly by the people. Where, 
on the other hand, the voters choose town 
trustees to represent them, and then give to 

1 The word " democratic " comes from the Greek word " demos, " 
meaning the people. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 51 

these chosen representatives the power to make 
town by-laws, we have an instance of repre- 
sentative democratic'government. Under which 
do you think the voters are apt to be more 
interested in the work of their town? Under 
which do you think the taxes are apt to be spent 
more wisely and economically? 

SOME OTHER TOWN OFFICERS 

Town auditors examine the accounts of those 
who handle money of the town. School di- 
rectors x manage the public schools. Road com- 
missioners have charge of roads and bridges. 2 
Pound keepers take charge of stray animals. 
Fence viewers decide disputes about boundary 
fences. 3 Election officers have charge of the 
voting. Most of these officers are chosen by 
the voters. They have different names in the 
different states. Their term of office is usually 
a year. Their pay comes out of the town taxes. 

1 Called school committee in Connecticut. 

2 In Connecticut the selectmen have charge of the roads and 
bridges, except where the towns vote to have a road commissioner. 
The state roads are in charge of the State Highway Commissioner. 

3 Duty of selectmen in Connecticut. 



52 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

OFFICERS OF JUSTICE 

. Disputes between the townsmen may be taken 
before a justice of the peace elected by the voters 
of the town. The justice hears the statements 
of both parties in the dispute and decides the 
matter according to the rules of law. In this 
work the justice may be aided by a jury, usually 
of six men, summoned from among the towns- 
men. When a law is broken the justice may 
order a constable, an officer also elected by the 
voters of the town, to arrest the offender and 
bring him before the justice. Here he may be 
tried with or without the aid of a jury. If found 
guilty, the justice sentences him to be punished 
according to law. The trial of disputes at law 
and of persons arrested for crime is described 
in Chapter XIV. 

THE TOWN A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION 

The voters of the town are given power by the 
state law to act together, as if they were a single 
person, in matters relating to the government of 
the town. Thus the people of a town, acting 
through their officers, may buy, own, and sell 
houses, lands, and other property for town pur- 



GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN 53 

poses. They may sue and be sued in a court of 
law. They may collect debts due to the town. 
In the same way the town must pay what it owes. 
This power of the people of a town to act as a 
single person, in matters relating to town affairs, 
is known as the town's corporate power, and 
the town itself is known as a municipal cor- 
poration. Look in the dictionary for the mean- 
ing of the words " municipal " and " corpora- 
tion/' Ask the teacher to explain them. 



Suggestive Questions 

Do you live in a township or in a town? Is it in the form 
of a square, or has it the irregular boundaries of one of the 
earlier settlements? 

How are town by-laws made in your locality? What is the 
difference between direct and representative democratic gov- 
ernment? Which do you have in your town? If you have 
the town-meeting, is it held as a single meeting or is it held at 
several different voting places in the town? 

How are taxes assessed and collected in your town? By what 
officers? For what purposes? 

What does the town clerk do? The town auditor? The 
justice of the peace? The constable? How many justices are 
elected in your town? 

Name a legislative officer of the town. An executive officer. 
A judicial officer. What officers have charge of schools in 



54 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

your locality? Who hires the teacher? How is money to 
carry on the schools assessed and collected? 



Here on this rock, and on this sterile soil, 

Began the kingdom not of kings, but men, 

Began the making of the world again. 

Here centuries sank, and from the hither brink 

A new world reached and raised an old world link, 

When England's hands, by wider vision taught, 

Threw down the feudal bars the Norman brought, 

And here revived, in spite of sword and stake, 

The ancient freedom of the Wapentake. 

Here struck the seed — the Pilgrim's roofless town, 

Where equal rights and equal bounds were set, 

Where all the people equal-franchised met, 

Where doom was writ of privilege and crown, 

Where human breath blew all the idols down, 

Where crests were naught, where vulture flags were furled 

And common men began to own the world. 

John Boyle O'Reilly. 



CHAPTER VI 
GOVERNMENT IN THE VILLAGE 

Many of us live in villages. 1 Have you ever 
thought how a village grows up? At first the 
land on which it stands may have been just a 
part of the thinly-settled township or county. 
Two roads may have met here. A farmer may 
have built a dam across a little stream just at 
this place and erected a mill. His neighbors 
bring him their corn and wheat to be ground 
into meal and flour. They bring logs to be 
sawed into lumber. The farmer hires other 
men to w r ork in his mill. These must have 
houses near the mill. A blacksmith joins the 
little settlement; then a shoemaker. Other 
houses are built. A cabinet-maker next opens 
a shop. He hires men to help him. All these 
need houses. A store is opened, a bakery, and 

1 In many Southern States an incorporated village is known as a 
" town," in others it is called a " borough," which originally meant a 
strong or fortified place. In Connecticut some towns have a modi- 
fied or enlarged form of town government granted by special act 
of the General Assembly. In Connecticut the village organization 
is called a borough. 



56 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

a butcher shop. A schoolhouse is built, then a 
church. A doctor opens an office. A post- 
office follows, then more stores and shops, and 
almost before we know it a village has grown 
up, containing several hundred people. 

WHY A VILLAGE HAS A SEPARATE GOVERNMENT 

At first this village is just a part of the town- 
ship or town. Tts people attend town-meeting, 
vote money for roads and bridges, and help to 
elect town officers. But as the village grows the 
people find that they need other conveniences 
than those of the thinly-settled township. They 
need sidewalks and street lamps. They wish 
better streets than the ordinary country road. 
They must have water brought in pipes from 
nearby springs into the streets and houses. 
They must have sewers to carry off the waste. 
They must have a fire engine to put out fires. 
They must have police officers to protect the 
village from disorderly persons. Few, if any, of 
these things are wanted by the farmers of the 
thinly-settled country. Therefore it would not 
be right to ask these farmers to help pay for 
them. What, then, is to be done? The people 



GOVERNMENT IN THE VILLAGE 57 

of the village must have a government of their 
own, to provide these village conveniences. 

ESTABLISHING VILLAGE GOVERNMENT 

When the people of the village reach the point 
where they feel the need of a separate govern- 
ment, they petition the state or county officers 
for a charter, giving them permission to set up 
such a government. 1 The charter is a written 
or printed paper in which are laid down the 
boundaries of the proposed village. It describes 
in outline the village government, states what 
officers the village may have, and describes their 
powers and duties. As soon as the charter is 
given, an election takes place, and village officers 
are chosen by the village voters. These officers 
have charge of the streets, lights, sewers, water- 
works, and other public property of the village. 

THE VILLAGE LAWMAKERS 

Village lawmakers are chosen, usually once a 
year, by the voters. Like the city council, they 
make by-laws or ordinances for the government 

1 It is customary, in most states, to give the people of a village a 
charter as soon as they have reached a certain population and have 
complied with certain forms of state law. 



58 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

of the village, to preserve peace, order, and 
health therein. Thus, the lawmakers may for- 
bid fast driving in the village. They may forbid 
the throwing of refuse in the streets. They may 
compel the people to build sidewalks. They 
may forbid bicyclers from riding on these walks. 
They may make almost any by-law that can be 
shown to be for the peace, comfort, and safety 
of the village. The lawmakers have power, as 
given in the charter, to lay a tax on persons and 
property in the village in order to enforce its 
by-laws and carry on its public work. The law- 
makers are given different names in the different 
states. In some they are known as the village 
aldermen, in others as the village council, in still 
others as the village board of trustees. 

VILLAGE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 

A village president or mayor is chosen, usually 
once a year, by the village voters. It is his duty 
to enforce the village laws, and for that purpose 
he may appoint policemen and other subordinate 
officers. Other village officers, as assessors, col- 
lector, treasurer, and clerk or recorder, are 
chosen by the voters or appointed by the village 



GOVERNMENT IN THE VILLAGE 59 

council. Each of these has duties in the village 
government quite similar to the duties per- 
formed in the town by officers of the same name. 

THE VILLAGE COURT 

A person arrested for breaking a village ordi- 
nance may be taken before a village police jus- 
tice, who has powers quite similar to those of 
the justice of the peace in the town. The police 
justice, like the justice of the peace, may sum- 
mon a jury to aid him in the trial of offenders 
against the law. 

THE VILLAGE A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION 

The village, though a part of the town, for 
purposes of town government, is, like the town, 
an independent municipal corporation. Its 
voters may, through their officers, act together 
as a single person in matters relating to its 
government. 

GOOD AND BAD VILLAGE GOVERNMENT 

From what we have learned it is easy to see 
that the health and comfort of the people who 
live in the village depend, to a considerable ex- 



60 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

tent, upon the kind of men chosen by the voters 
as village officers. If honest and capable men 
are chosen to manage the village property and 
to make and enforce the village laws, we may 
expect to find clean and well-kept streets, good 
lights, abundant and wholesome water, attrac- 
tive parks and public buildings, and a general air 
of comfort and prosperity in the village. At 
the same time, no money collected as village 
taxes will be misplaced or wasted. If, on the 
other hand, the voters are careless and indiffer 
ent, if they choose self-seeking and incompetent 
officers, there is sure to be mismanagement and 
waste. We shall be apt to find the streets of 
such a village dirty and out of repair, its water 
not the best, its lights of poorer quality or more 
expensive than those of its neighbors, its school- 
houses crowded and dirty. Yet the people may 
be paying more than enough in taxes to give 
them a first-class village government. How nec- 
essary, then, in the interest of the health and 
comfort of every villager, that only able and 
honest men be selected as village officers! How 
may boys and girls help in this important 
matter? 



GOVERNMENT IN THE VILLAGE 61 

SUMMARY 

A village may have a government, for village 
purposes, independent of the town or county in 
which it stands. This government is outlined in 
the village charter. A village having a charter 
form of government is said to be an incorporated 
village. 

The people of an incorporated village, while 
living under their own village government, are 
at the same time subject to the governments of 
the town and county in which the village stands. 
They may still vote at town and county elections, 
and they must still pay town and county, as well 
as village taxes. 

The village lawmakers are the village alder- 
men, council, or trustees. The village presi- 
dent or mayor is its chief executive officer, and 
the police justice is its chief judicial officer. The 
village, like the town, is a municipal corporation. 

Suggestive Questions 

Is your village governed under a special charter, or is it 
incorporated under a general law of the state? 

What officers have charge of streets and sidewalks in your 
village? Are they elected or appointed? 

How are important improvements, like the putting in of 



62 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

electric lights, or the establishment of village water-works, 
decided upon in your village? If left to a vote of the villagers, 
may all citizens vote, or only the taxpayers? 

Name any officer or officers whose duty it is to enforce the 
ordinances in your village. How are these officers chosen? 

What was the last tax rate for village purposes in your village? 
How does this compare with the rate in other near-by villages? 
What officers in your village fix the tax rate? How are they 
selected? 



The grass is green on Bunker Hill, 
The waters sweet in Brandywine; 

The sword sleeps in the scabbard still, 
The farmer keeps his flock and vine; 

Then who would mar the scene to-day 

With vaunt of battle-field or frayf 

The brave corn lifts in regiments 
Ten thousand sabers in the sun; 

The ricks replace the battle-tents, 
The bannered tassels toss and run. 

The neighing steed, the bugle's blast, 

These be but stories of the past. 

The earth has healed her wounded breast, 
The cannons plow the field no more; 

The heroes rest! 0, let them rest 
In peace along the peaceful shore! 

They fought for peace, for peace they fell; 

They sleep in peace, and all is well. 

Lo! peace on earth. Lo! flock and fold. 

Lo! rich abundance, fat increase, 
And valleys clad in sheen of gold. 

0, rise and sing a song of peace! 
For Theseus roams the land no more, 
And Janus rests with rusted door. 

Joaquin Miller. 



CHAPTER VII 

CITY GOVERNMENT: SOME THINGS IT DOES 
FOR THE PEOPLE 

We will suppose that our village, described in 
the last chapter, has grown into a city. Its few 
hundred feet of pavement have become miles 
of paved and macadamized streets. These are 
lighted by hundreds of gas and electric lamps. 
Above them is a network of telegraph, telephone, 
and electric light wires. Along the streets 
swiftly moving trolley-cars come and go in every 
direction. Under them are miles of water-pipes, 
bringing water from the city reservoir into every 
street and dwelling. Alongside of these water- 
pipes are miles of sewer-pipes to carry off the 
waste. Gas-pipes with thousands of private 
connections are also under the pavements. A 
small army of men is kept busy caring for these 
streets, pipes, and sewers. Another small army 
stands ready at the sound of the alarm to rush 
out with engines and horses and protect the city 
from fire. The city owns many schoolhouses 



64 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

and other public buildings. There is a public 
hospital, a public library, there are public baths, 
parks, and playgrounds — all supported by the 
city. Everywhere we see policemen in uniform 
patrolling the streets, and looking after the 
protection of persons and property. 

How is all this vast and wonderful public 
activity directed? Who provides and main- 
tains these many conveniences that are free to 
all? Our answer is, the city government. Is 
not a government, having such great powers for 
good or evil, worthy of our careful study? 

THE CITY STREETS 

When we go into a strange city, what is it that 
first attracts our attention? Is it not the ar- 
rangement and condition of the streets? The 
streets of a city are of first importance to the 
comfort of its people. Why? Because they 
are the primary means of the communication of 
its inhabitants with one another. The streets 
are to the city what the veins and arteries are 
to the human body. They provide a means for 
the circulation of its life force. How necessary, 
then, that a city's streets should be well planned 



CITY GOVERNMENT: SOME THINGS IT DOES 65 

and well kept; that the pavements should be 
smooth, clean, and durable; that they should 
be well lighted at night; that they should be at 
all times as free as possible from discomfort 
and disorder. A matter of first importance, 
then, in every city government, is a competent 
department of streets, to provide new highways 
for the growing population, and to take care of 
those already existing. 

THE CITY WATER 

Next in importance to the streets of a city is, 
we may say, its water supply. In the country 
every farmer may have his own well or spring 
to supply his household with pure water. Not 
so in the city. Here thousands of people are 
crowded together in small space, often far from 
good water. But water they must have in 
abundance, for drinking, cooking, and washing, 
for turning the wheels of huge factories, for 
putting out fires, for street-sprinkling, and 
scores of other purposes. The people of a city 
must often go miles away to some lake or river 
for pure and sufficient water. They must build 
reservoirs, and put in costly machinery for 



66 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

pumping the water into high-service towers, 
that it may be distributed with the proper force 
through pipes to the upper floors of the dwellings. 
All the time careful watch must be kept to 
maintain the water pure and fit for drinking. 
The city must have its department of water- 
supply to look after these matters. 

THE CITY'S WASTES 

Quite as important as supplying the city with 
pure water is the means by which the city gets 
rid of its waste-water. The housekeeper in the 
country may throw her waste-water out of the 
kitchen window, where it is taken care of by 
sun and earth. But what would happen should 
everybody in the city throw his waste-water 
out of the windows! In olden times this used 
to be a common practice, and we are told that 
in the great city of London, where there were 
then no street lamps, " after nightfall a person 
went out at his peril, for chamber windows were 
opened and slop pails unceremoniously emptied 
down." No wonder London's streets were 
" filthy beyond description "! The streets of 
Paris were in much the same condition, and it 



CITY GOVERNMENT: SOME THINGS IT DOES 67 

is said that on a rainy day a person who stepped 
into the street went up to his ankles in mud. 
No great city would to-day tolerate such condi- 
tions. As the pure water comes into the houses 
through pipes, so the waste must be taken away 
by a system of pipes and sewers. And this 
waste must be carried where it will not become 
offensive or dangerous to the people's health. 
How best to take care of a city's wastes is a 
problem upon which many skillful engineers are 
still studying. 

THE CITY'S LIGHTS 

We have spoken of the city's lights. These 
must be sufficient in number, and good enough 
in quality to keep the streets well lighted at 
night, and to light both public and private 
buildings. Crime works in the dark, and well- 
lighted streets are usually safe streets. The 
city government must see to the proper lighting 
of streets and public buildings, and if the city 
does not manufacture and supply its own light, 
it must provide a way by which private com- 
panies may lay pipes and wires through the 
streets. 



68 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION 

A very important matter is the means of 
travel. We must be able to move quickly and 
safely from one part of the city to another. 
This is now accomplished largely by means of 
street railroads owned by private corporations. 
The city officials make rules in accordance with 
which tracks are laid in the streets and cars 
run to accommodate the people. But no private 
company should be allowed to use any street or 
other city property unless the company agrees 
to serve the best interests of the people. If a 
railroad company be given permission to use 
the streets, the city officials should see that the 
company binds itself to run enough cars to 
accommodate the people and to charge a reason- 
able fare. The cars must not be allowed to run 
at a dangerous speed, and they must be pro- 
vided with fenders and other safety appliances. 
The company should be required to pay a reason- 
able price for its use of the streets. This privi- 
lege of using public property, given by the city 
to a private corporation, is known as a franchise. 
Many people believe that city franchises should 
be given for short terms of years, so that when 



CITY GOVERNMENT: SOME THINGS IT DOES 69 

renewed the city may make at the end of each 
period terms most advantageous for the people. 

THE CITY'S HEALTH 

Where thousands of people are gathered to- 
gether in a city, there are always many who are 
careless and indifferent of the health and com- 
fort of their neighbors. Careless storekeepers 
sell unwholesome food. Milkmen peddle wa- 
tered and dirty milk. Icemen sell ice that is 
filthy and full of the germs of disease. Careless 
householders throw their refuse into the streets; 
factories pollute the air with thick black smoke; 
street peddlers disturb the peace by loud and un- 
necessary noises. Were everybody allowed thus 
to impose upon his neighbors, health and com- 
fort would greatly suffer. The city government, 
therefore, has a department of health whose im- 
portant duty is to protect the people from such 
unwholesome conditions. When a contagious 
disease, such as smallpox, measles, or scarlet 
fever, breaks out, the health department aims to 
prevent its spread by such means as vaccination 
and the seclusion of persons who have the disease. 
As many diseases flourish where dirt and filth 



70 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

accumulate, the health department aims to 
make the people keep their premises clean. It 
does this in order to protect the life and health 
of every person, and no one should consider it a 
hardship when the health inspector comes around 
and orders him to " clean up." 

POLICE AND FIRE PROTECTION 

We have already spoken of the city's police 
and fire departments. In both, brave men are 
daily risking life and limb for the protection of 
the people. A city whose government does not 
provide proper police and fire protection cannot 
be considered a well-governed one. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS 

A good city government includes a department 
of buildings, with officers paid to see that houses, 
stores, and factories are built safely and strongly, 
and in a way to protect their occupants from dan- 
ger by accident and disease. In the country 
every man may have his little house built much 
as he pleases. If it tumbles down or burns up, 
his family alone will suffer. But in a great city, 
where thousands of people live in rented tene- 



CITY GOVERNMENT: SOME THINGS IT DOES 71 

ments and work in buildings which they may 
never hope to own, it is the duty of the city 
government to see that these buildings are made 
and kept safe and fit for occupancy and use. 
No house-owner should complain when city 
officials order him to put up necessary fire 
escapes, and no tenant should feel aggrieved 
when told to keep these fire escapes clear of 
obstructions and ready for instant use. 

PARKS, SCHOOLS, AND PLAYGROUNDS 

The department of parks and the department 
of education perform very necessary work in 
the government of the city. Every boy and girl 
knows that without schools and the means of 
recreation life would be far less worth living than 
it now is. Boys and girls can help themselves 
and also help in the good government of their 
city by making proper use of its schools, parks, 
and playgrounds. 

Suggestive Questions 

Why does a city need clean and well-paved streets? 

Name four public uses for city water. Is water supplied to 
the people of your city by a private company or by the city 
government? What is the rate of payment for this water? 



72 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

How are garbage and other refuse collected in your city — by 
city employees or by a private contractor? What is done with 
such refuse? 

Give two reasons why a city should be well lighted. Does 
your city own its lighting system, or is light supplied by a private 
corporation? WTiat is the rate of payment? Do you know 
upon what terms the street railroad companies are allowed to 
use the streets in your city? 

Why does a city need a department of health? Name three 
duties of this department. What are some of the duties of 
the department of buildings? The department of parks? The 
department of education? 



Not in the solitude 
Alone may man commune with Heaven, or see 

Only in the savage wood 
And sunny vale the present Deity; 

Or only hear His voice 

Where the winds whisper and the waves rejoice. 

Even here do I behold 
Thy steps, Almighty! — here amidst the crowd 

Through the great city rolled. 
With everlasting murmur, deep and loud — 

Choking the ways that wind 

'Mongst the proud piles, the work of humankind. 

Thy spirit is around, 
Quickening the restless mass that sweeps along; 

And this eternal sound — 
Voices and footfalls of the numberless throng — 

Like the resounding sea, 

Or like the rainy tempest, speaks of Thee. 

William Cullen Bryant. 



CHAPTER VIII 

CITY GOVERNMENT: HOW IT IS 
CARRIED ON 

In the last chapter we learned some things 
that a city government may do for its people. 
Let us now see how the public work of a city is 
carried on, 

THE CITY CHARTER 

When a boy outgrows his clothes he gets a new 
suit to fit him. Something quite similar happens 
when a village grows into a city. The people, 
having outgrown the simple form of village gov- 
ernment, put on the more complex form of city 
government. This is outlined in the city char- 
ter. In our study of the village we learned that 
the charter is a written or printed form of gov- 
ernment given to its people by the lawmakers of 
the state or county. But as the city is larger 
than the village and must do vastly more work 
for its people, so its charter is usually a much 
longer and more complex document than the 



74 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

charter of the village. The charter describes 
the boundaries of the city, its different depart- 
ments of government, and outlines the powers 
and duties of its officers. Some of our wisest 
lawyers have given much time and thought to 
the framing of city charters. We may consult a 
copy of our city's charter at the mayor's office. 

THE CITY LAWMAKERS 

The charter always provides for a body of city 
lawmakers. These, as we have learned, are the 
city council or board of aldermen. They are 
elected by the voters of the city, and they have 
general care and oversight of its public prop- 
erty, such as streets, sidewalks, sewers, parks, 
water-works, schoolhouses, and other public 
buildings. The council makes rules or laws, 
which are known as city ordinances, for the 
management and use of this city property. 
Thus the city council may make a law that no 
bicycle shall be ridden after dark without a 
lighted lamp; that all sidewalks shall be made 
of stone or cement; that automobiles and other 
vehicles shall not be driven faster than a certain 
specified rate of speed ; that no wooden buildings 



CITY GOVERNMENT: HOW IT IS CARRIED ON 75 

shall be erected in those parts of the city known 
as its " fire limits "; that street peddlers must 
obtain a written license or permission to do 
business; that no person may throw refuse into 
any street or park. These are but a few in- 
stances of the many matters upon which the 
city council or board of aldermen has power 
to make laws. 1 In most cities the council has 
power to lay a tax on the property owners to 
enforce city ordinances and carry on its public 
work. 

THE GRANTING OF FRANCHISES 

A very important duty of the city council, as 
we have seen, is the permission which it some- 
times gives to bodies of men, known as corpora- 
tions, to use the streets and other property of the 
city for certain semi-public purposes. Thus the 
city council may give a street railroad company 
permission to lay rails and run cars through the 
streets. It may give a lighting company per- 
mission to lay pipes, erect street lamps, and 

1 In many cities portions of this law-making work are taken from 
the council and given to the different city departments, as the de- 
partment of parks, the department of health, the department of 
public works, etc. 



76 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

supply the people with gas. It may give a 
water company power to lay water-mains and 
supply the city with water. Such permissions, 
as we learned in the previous chapter, are known 
as franchises. They are usually given by the 
city council for a definite number of years, 
although some councils have been known to give 
private companies the use of the streets forever. 1 
As the streets and other public property of a 
city belong to all its people, no city council 
should give their use to a money-making cor- 
poration without making the best possible 
bargain for the people in cheap rates and excel- 
lent service. Some councils give franchises only 
on condition that the privileged corporation pa}' 
each year a certain portion of its earnings into 
the city treasury. 

CHOOSING CITY LAWMAKERS 

The city, as we have learned, is generally di- 
vided into districts called wards. The voters in 
each ward usually elect, once a year, one or more 

1 The New York City board of aldermen gave the Broadway Sur- 
face Railroad Company an interest in Broadway which the Court of 
Appeals held to be perpetual. This was a gross abuse of the rights 
of the people. 



CITY GOVERNMENT: HOW IT IS CARRIED ON 77 

members of the city council. Thus, if a city 
have twenty wards, and each ward elect two 
councilmen, the city council may contain forty 
members. Sometimes, however, the voters of 
the entire city elect a certain number of council- 
men-at-large, who, together with those chosen 
from the wards, make up the council. With the 
great power which the council has over the 
affairs of the city, is it not supremely important 
that only wise and honest men be chosen as 
councilmen? An able and honest council can 
do much to make a healthful, comfortable, 'and 
prosperous city. On the other hand, careless 
and dishonest councilmen, by laying heavy 
taxes and mismanaging the city's public work, 
may do much to decrease the happiness and 
prosperity of the people. The voters cannot 
be too careful in selecting men for the city 
council or board of aldermen. This board is 
sometimes spoken of as " the city fathers," and 
the very word " alderman," coming from the 
old English word, " Ealdorman," meaning elder 
(or older) man, reminds us of a time when only 
the older and wiser men of a city were chosen 
as its lawmakers. 



78 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

THE MAYOR AND HIS POWERS 

Laws may be made, but laws are of little value 
unless they are enforced. So the charters of our 
cities provide that the voters shall elect a mayor, 
whose chief duty is to enforce law within the 
city. The word " mayor " comes from the Latin 
" major," and means higher or greater. The 
mayor is the highest officer in the law-enforcing 
or executive department of the city government. 
With the consent of the city council, and some- 
times without, the mayor may appoint heads of 
the different city departments, policemen, and 
other subordinate officers. 1 The mayor may 
also have power to remove as well as appoint 
city officials. Besides these important powers, 
he is usually given power to prevent the passing 
of unwise or unjust laws by the city council. 
This is done by what is known as the " mayor's 
veto." The word " veto " also comes from the 
Latin, and means " I forbid." The mayor 
vetoes a proposed city ordinance by forbidding 
it to become law. A proposed ordinance may 

1 Policemen and many minor officers are usually appointed after 
passing civil service examinations held to determine their fitness for 
the positions. 



CITY GOVERNMENT: HOW IT IS CARRIED ON 79 

be passed over the mayor's veto by two-thirds x 
of the city councilmen voting in its favor. It 
then becomes a law in spite of the veto. Many 
people think that the mayor should be given 
still greater powers. They would have him 
appoint and remove all heads of city depart- 
ments, such as the chief of police and the heads 
of the fire and health departments, without the 
consent of the council. In this way, it is claimed 
a good mayor may do much to secure good city 
government in spite of the opposition of a bad 
city council. A better remedy is for the voters 
to see that only honest and able men are elected 
to the council. 

CITY COURTS AND JUDGES 

Each city usually has its own courts and 
judges before whom persons accused of breaking 
the city ordinances are taken for trial and sen- 
tence. The same courts often try persons 
accused of minor offenses against the state. In 
the latter case the city court acts as an agent for 

1 In some cities three-fourths, or even five-sixths, of the councilmen 
must vote for an ordinance to pass it over the mayor's veto. In New 
York City an ordinance involving the granting of a franchise can- 
not be passed over the mayor's veto. 



80 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

the state. In the same courts disputes between 
persons are heard and settled as before a justice 
of the peace. The judges of the city courts are 
sometimes elected by the people and sometimes 
appointed by the mayor and council. 

CITY AND STATE 

We have discovered that the people of a city 
are allowed their own city government only by 
consent of the state lawmakers as given in the 
city charter. An important question now being 
discussed is how far the people of a city should 
be allowed " home rule/' that is, power to have 
their own local government independent of the 
state lawmakers. There are two sides to this 
question. In so far as the city government is a 
business affair, supplying the people with clean 
and comfortable streets, good lights and water, 
and comfortable home conditions generally, the 
city should be allowed the largest measure of 
" home rule." This is only fair and right, be- 
cause the people of the city understand better 
than the state lawmakers their own local needs, 
and, besides, they alone are taxed to make city 
improvements. On the other hand, where the 



CITY GOVERNMENT: HOW IT IS CARRIED ON 81 

city government acts as an agent for enforcing 
state laws, there is no question that the state 
lawmakers should have a general oversight over 
its work. City officials are often called upon to 
enforce state laws against crime, in aid of the 
poor, for the support of education, and in the 
interest of public health and morals. It is only 
right that in these matters the state should 
supervise the work of the city. Again, the 
state may be called upon to protect the people 
of the city from the folly and mismanagement 
of the city officers. This is done by the opera- 
tion of such state laws as that which forbids a 
city to run into debt beyond a certain per cent 
(usually ten per cent) of the value of the prop- 
erty within it, subject to taxation. Other 
questions relating to the powers of the city are 
discussed in Chapters XIII and XIV of this 
book. 

Suggestive Questions 

What is the city charter? How is it obtained? Who gives 
it? 

What are some duties of the city council or board of alder- 
men? What officers lay taxes on the property owners of a 
city in order to carry on its public work? Is there any law in 
your state limiting the amount of taxes that may be thus laid? 



82 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



What is a franchise? Who grants city franchises? 
What are some of the duties of the mayor? What is the 
" mayor's veto "? 

What is meant by " home rule " when applied to a city? 



What I wish first to insist upon is the essential worthy 
nobility, primacy indeed, of the liberal pursuit of politics. 
It is simply the highest, the most dignified, the most im- 
portant of all earthly objects of human study. Next to 
the relations of man with his Maker, there is nothing so 
deserving his best attention as his relation to his fellow- 
men. The welfare of the community is always more 
important than the welfare of any individual or number 
of individuals; and the welfare of the community is the 
highest object of the study of politics. The course and 
current of men in masses is the most exalted of human 
studies, and that is the study of the politician. To help 
individuals is the business of the learned professions; 
to do the same thing for communities is the business of 
politics. — Whitelaw Reid. 



CHAPTER IX 

STATE GOVERNMENT: HOW IT CAME ABOUT, 
WHAT IT DOES FOR THE PEOPLE 

Every schoolboy knows something of the 
state in which he lives. He knows its boundaries 
as laid down on the map. He can name and 
locate its capital. Perhaps he knows the name 
of its governor. What is the state? Why do 
we have state government? 

THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

All who have read in history an account of 
the Revolutionary War and of George Washing- 
ton know something of the original Thirteen 
Colonies. 1 The flag of our country has thirteen 
stripes, one for each of these colonies. Before 
the Revolutionary War the thirteen colonies 
were governed largely by the king of England. 
Yet the people of each colony, through their 
representatives, taxed themselves to pay for 

1 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 



84 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

roads, bridges, schoolhouses, and other public 
improvements. The men united in companies 
of soldiers to defend the colonies from Indians 
and other foes, and each colony had its charter 
given by the king, which allowed it a certain 
amount of self-government, and its assembly 
of lawmakers chosen by its voters. 1 

THE COLONIES BECOME STATES 

We know how King George III of England 
tried to tax the people of the colonies without 
their consent; how the king sent soldiers across 
the Atlantic to enforce his demands; how the 
colonies joined hands against the king in the 
Revolutionary War; and how on July 4, 1776, 
their representatives in the Continental Congress 
declared the colonies " free and independent 
states." If we live in what was one of the 
original Thirteen Colonies, this explains how our 
state came into existence. If we live in a state 
which was not one of the original thirteen, how 
it came into existence is quite another story. 

1 The colonial assembly was usually composed of two bodies or 
" houses." The ft upper house," known as the governor's council, 
was usually appointed by the king. The " lower house," or assembly 
proper, was composed of members elected by the voters of the colony. 



STATE GOVERNMENT: HOW IT CAME ABOUT 85 
HOW OTHER STATES HAVE BEEN FORMED 

We will suppose that we live in a state which 
is not one of the original thirteen — in Ohio, 
Kentucky, or California, for instance. In that 
case our state was formed from territory that 
once belonged to the United States. Its people 
were governed by the national Congress which 
sits at Washington. As the people increased 
in number they felt the need of a state govern- 
ment of their own. They asked Congress to 
allow them to set up such a government. Con- 
gress consented, and the people chose delegates 
to a convention called to form a constitution 
for the proposed state. This constitution, after 
being agreed upon by the voters, was sent to 
Congress, which, finding it in harmony with 
the Constitution of the United States, accepted 
it as the constitution of the proposed new state. 
The President of the United States then declared 
the new state admitted as a member of our 
national Union. Such is the origin of states 
which have come into the Union since the original 
thirteen. 



86 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

WORK OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT 

What does the state government do for the 
people? First, it is its business to keep order — 
to make the state a safe and peaceable place to 
live in. This it does by making and enforcing 
laws against crime and disorder. It makes laws 
to protect us from such crimes as fraud , theft, 
assault, and murder. Thus, officers acting for 
the state punish drunkards, thieves, and mur- 
derers. Most laws that regulate personal re- 
lations and deal with property are state laws. 
Thus it is a state law under which husband and 
wife marry and live together. State law gives 
parents the control of their children. State 
law protects the farmer in the possession of his 
farm, and the merchant in the ownership of his 
stock of goods. Under state law schoolhouses 
are built, teachers hired, and children sent to 
school. The state provides asylums for the 
insane and superintends the care of paupers in 
towns, cities, and counties. If a man refuse to 
pay his just debt, the state provides a way by 
which he may be brought into court and made 
to pay. We have already learned that the state 
gives charters to villages and cities, and that it 



STATE GOVERNMENT: HOW IT CAME ABOUT 87 

outlines the form of town and county govern- 
ment. It would take a large book to set down 
the many ways in which the state regulates and 
controls our daily actions in the interest of 
justice, peace, and public comfort. 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION 

We have already discovered that a very im- 
portant part of the state government is the state 
constitution. Every state has its constitution. 
What is the constitution? If you belong to a 
baseball club you know that the game is played 
according to certain rules. If you are a mem- 
ber of a debating society you know that its busi- 
ness is carried on according to rules that have 
been agreed upon by the members. These 
rules of club or society are sometimes spoken 
of as its constitution. In the same way a great 
state has its general plan of government, or its 
rules, under which it acts. This plan, and the 
more important of these rules, or laws as we call 
them, are laid down in the state constitution. 
The constitution is, then, for the state quite 
like the charter for the village and the city. 



88 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

THE CONSTITUTION MADE BY THE PEOPLE 

If the boys in your class wished to form a de- 
bating club, one of the first things they would do 
would be to appoint three or four boys as a com- 
mittee to draw up a set of rules for the govern- 
ment of the proposed club. After the committee 
agreed upon the rules they would be reported 
to the club. The members would then discuss 
them one by one and vote, " yes " or "no," 
upon the question of accepting them. The 
rules, if accepted by the club, would form its 
constitution. In much the same way, as we 
have learned, the voters of a state choose dele- 
gates to a convention whose purpose is to form 
a state constitution. When the convention has 
agreed upon a constitution for the state it is 
submitted to the voters of the state at a regular 
election. Here the voters vote, " yes " or 
"no," on the proposed constitution. If a ma- 
jority vote " yes " the constitution is accepted 
and becomes the law of the state. 1 The con- 
stitution, besides containing the general plan 
or outline of state government, names the more 

1 Constitutions are amended or changed in much the same way as 
they are originally adopted. 



STATE GOVERNMENT: HOW IT CAME ABOUT 89 

important state officers and describes their 
powers and duties. We may find a copy of our 
state constitution at the public library, or in the 
office of any good lawyer. 

Suggestive Questions 

Is your state one of the original thirteen, or was it formed 
from territory that once belonged to the United States? 

Describe the way in which states are formed and admitted 
into the Union. 

What is the state constitution? How is it formed? How 
accepted by the people? What does the constitution contain? 



What constitutes a state? 
Not high-raised battlement or labored mound. 

Thick wall or moated gate; 
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned; 

Not bays and broad-armed ports, 
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; 

Not starred and spangled courts, 
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. 

No: men, high-minded men, 
With powers as far above dull brutes endued 

In forest, brake, or den, 
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; 

Men who their duties know, 
But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain, 

Prevent the long-aimed blow, 
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain: 

These constitute a state. — Sir William Jones. 



CHAPTER X 

GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE: HOW IT IS 
CARRIED ON — THE COUNTY 

We have seen that the voters of the state make 
its more important or fundamental laws when 
they agree to the state constitution. But the 
laws in the constitution are few in number as 
compared with the great body of state laws. 
Many new laws are made every year in carrying 
on the vast public business of the state. What 
are some of these laws? If we look in a volume 
of our state statutes, to be found in any lawyer's 
library, we may see some of these laws. Here 
are the titles of a few, taken at random from the 
statutes of a single state for a single year. 1 
There are two volumes for the year and this one 
alone contains over 600 new state laws: 

" To amend the town law," " To make the 
treasurer of Broome County a salaried office/' 
" To create a court in the city of Poughkeepsie," 
" To amend the forest, fish, and game law," " To 

1 Laws of New York, 1902. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE — THE COUNTY 91 

provide for the improvement of public high- 
ways/' " To incorporate the city of Fulton," 
" To amend the county law relating to fire 
districts/' " To provide for the enrollment of 
members of political parties in towns/' " To 
amend the public health law/' " To amend the 
domestic relations law relating to the rights of 
married women/' " To lay out, establish, and 
regulate a public driveway in the city of Troy." 

We see from these titles how manifestly im- 
possible it would be for the voters of a great state 
to make all of its necessary laws. The voters 
have neither the time nor the knowledge. Be- 
sides, it would be practically impossible for them 
to meet as a lawmaking body. The voters have 
left, therefore, the making of most state laws 
to a special body of lawmakers known as the 
State Legislature. 1 



STATE LAWMAKERS 

Each state is divided into districts, as the city 
is divided into wards, and the voters in each dis- 
trict choose, once in every one or two years, one 

1 The State Legislature is given different names in the different 
states. Thus in Massachusetts and New Hampshire it is called the 
General Court. In Connecticut and in many other states it is 
called the General Assembly. 



92 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

member of the state legislature. 1 The legis- 
lature meets at the state capitol, and it is com- 
posed of two bodies or " houses. " The larger 
or " lower house " is usually called the Assembly, 
or House of Representatives. The smaller or 
" upper house " is known as the State Senate. 
The members of the lower house are usually 
chosen for a shorter term of office than the 
members of the senate. 

HOW STATE LAWS ARE MADE 

A state law must be agreed to by a majority of 
the members of each house of the legislature; and 
some important laws that require the spending 
of much of the people's money must be agreed 
to, in some cases, by two-thirds or more of the 
members of both houses. When a proposed 
law has been agreed to by both houses of the 
legislature, it is sent to the governor of the 
state. 2 Like the mayor, the governor may veto 
a proposed law. If vetoed, it may be repassed 
over the veto, usually by a two-thirds affirma- 

1 In some states the legislature meets every year, but in most 
states it meets every two years. In Connecticut it meets every two 
years. 

2 A proposed law is called a " bill." 



GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE — THE COUNTY 93 

tive vote of both houses of the legislature. It 
then becomes a law. 

WHY A LEGISLATURE OF TWO HOUSES 

Why is the legislature composed of two bodies 
or houses? One reason for it is because the old 
colonial assemblies were composed of two bodies 
— the governor's council and the assembly. 
Our state legislatures have followed their ex- 
ample. Another reason is found in the fact that 
two houses delay the process of lawmaking, and 
so may prevent the enactment of many unwise 
laws. A bad bill passed in one house will often 
be " killed " in the other. 

STATE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 

The laws of the state are enforced largely by 
officers chosen by the voters of the entire state. 
At their head is the governor, already mentioned. 
The governor appoints many subordinate offi- 
cers. He is at the head of the military forces 
of the state, and he may call out any regiment 
of state militia to suppress disorder and enforce 
the law. Important officers aiding in the work 
of enforcing and administering the law are: 



94 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

The lieutenant governor, who takes the place of 
the governor when the latter is unable to act; 
the secretary of state, who keeps important 
records; the state treasurer, who keeps and 
pays out moneys of the state; the state comp- 
troller, who audits bills against the state and 
looks after its accounts; the attorney-general, 
who assists in bringing criminals to justice and 
who acts as the legal adviser of the other state 
officials; and the state superintendent of public 
instruction, 1 who has general oversight of the 
schools in the state. All these officers have 
their headquarters at the state capitol, and most 
of them are chosen for terms of two or three 
years each, by the voters of the state. 

STATE COURTS AND JUDGES 

Like the town, the village, and the city, the 
state has its own courts and judges. State 
courts are higher than those of the smaller 
political divisions, and questions decided in these 
lower courts are often carried up, on appeal, to 
the state courts. The highest court of the state 

1 In Connecticut called the Secretary of the State Board of Edu- 
cation. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE — THE COUNTY 95 



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96 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

is usually known as the Supreme Court. 1 It is 
usually composed of from three to nine judges 2 
who are, as a rule, chosen by the voters of the 
entire state. This court sits at the state capitol, 
and its judges hold office for terms of from six 
to fourteen years each. 3 An important duty of 
this court is to decide whether laws passed by 
the state legislature are in accord with the con- 
stitution. If the court finds a law to be not in 
accord with the constitution, that is, to be 
" unconstitutional," it is void, and no man is 
bound to obey it. We shall learn more of the 
work of these courts in the chapter on " Going 
to Law." 

THE STATE DIVIDED INTO COUNTIES 4 

The state, as we have already learned, is di- 
vided into districts called counties. (See map, 

1 In New York it is called the Court of Appeals. 

2 Five in Connecticut. 

3 Eight years in Connecticut. 

4 No separate chapter is given in this book to county government, 
principally because the county is so largely an administrative division 
of the state, its main purpose being the carrying out of state laws. 
This does not seem so much the case with the town and its modified 
forms, the village and the city. Towns were formed, as a rule, before 
the colonial governments, the colonies in many cases resulting from 
a union of the towns. Counties, on the other hand, were created by 
the colonial governments at first largely as convenient court districts. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE — THE COUNTY 97 

page 95.) This is largely for convenience in 
carrying out the law and performing certain 
kinds of public work. The county, which 
originated in England, has a very interesting 
history. Hundreds of years ago England was 
not, as now, governed by a single king. It was 
divided into a number of small kingdoms. 
These small kingdoms united, after a time, in a 
single government, and their former rulers be- 
came earls or counts under the king of England. 
The former little kingdoms were then known as 
" shires y) (meaning shares of the greater king- 
dom), or counties. 1 Each county had its own 
county court, headed by the sheriff (from 
" shire reeve/' meaning head man of the shire), 
who was the king's agent for collecting taxes in 
the county. The Englishmen who emigrated to 
America very soon set up county government in 
the thirteen colonies. As in England, so in 
America, each county had its county court and 
its sheriff, who acted as agent for the colonial 
government. 

In New York and in New England, as we 

1 Called counties because they resembled the districts in France 
which were governed by counts. 



98 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

have learned, the people settled in small groups, 
forming towns. But this was not the case in 
Virginia and the other Southern colonies. There 
most of the settlers lived far apart on large 
plantations. They did not set up town gov- 
ernment. They modeled their local govern- 
ment, instead, after the English county. As in 
England, each county had its county court, 
and its voters usually sent a representative to 
the colonial legislature. New York and New 
England, though settled in towns, were soon 
divided into counties, largely because the county 
furnished a convenient court district. 

GOVERNMENT IN THE COUNTY 

Each state 1 is to-day divided into counties, 
and each county has a government of its own, 
with legislative, executive, and judicial officers. 
There are two methods of choosing county law- 
makers. In some states three or more county 
commissioners are chosen by the voters of the 
county. 2 These commissioners make county 
laws and, in some cases, act as a county court. 

1 Except Louisiana, which is divided into parishes. 

2 In Connecticut three commissioners for each county are ap- 
pointed by the General Assembly for four years. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE — THE COUNTY 99 

In other states the county lawmaking body is 
composed of the supervisors — one from each 
town or city ward in the county. When or- 
ganized for county purposes they are known as 
the county board of supervisors. The principal 
county executive officers l are the sheriff, county 
clerk, county treasurer, state's attorney, 2 county 
superintendent of the poor, and county superin- 
tendent of schools. 3 The duties of most of them 
may be inferred from their official names. They 
are usually elected for terms of two or three 
years each by the voters of the county. 

THE SHERIFF 

The sheriff is the chief executive officer of the 
county. It is his duty to see that peace and 
order are maintained within the county. He 

1 Connecticut has no county clerk, county superintendent of the 
poor, or county superintendent of schools. In Connecticut — (a) 
the public records of deeds and mortgages are kept by town clerks; 
(6) most towns have a " town house " for the poor, but the county 
has a " county house " for poor children; (c) a town may have a 
superintendent of schools, or two or more towns may have the same 
superintendent. 

2 Sometimes called " district attorney." 

3 In New York there is no county superintendent of schools, but 
the state is divided into school commissioners , districts, the schools 
in each district being under the supervision of a commissioner. 



100 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

may appoint deputies to help him, and he may 
also call any citizen to his aid if necessary , to 
preserve peace or enforce the law. If still un- 
able to enforce law and order , the sheriff may 
call upon the governor to help him with the 
state militia. Criminals are arrested by the 
sheriff and his deputies , and the former has 
charge of the county jail, where accused persons 
are locked up to await trial and sentence. The 
sheriff also has charge of property which has 
been ordered by the courts to be sold for debt. 
So important is he in carrying out the orders of 
the court that he is sometimes spoken of as " the 
arm of the judge." 

' THE STATE' S ATTORNEY * 

This officer is a public prosecutor of criminals. 
Although elected by the voters of the county, he 
is largely engaged in enforcing the laws of the 
state against crime and disorder. 

THE COUNTY COURT 

This is composed in some states of the county 
commissioners, one of whom acts as a presiding 

1 In Connecticut a state's attorney is appointed by the Judges of 
the Superior Court for each county. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE — THE COUNTY 101 

judge. In other states the county court consists 
of a single county judge, elected by the voters of 
the county. 1 Most criminals are tried in this 
court, the state's attorney acting as the prose- 
cutor. Here, also, are heard and decided more 
important disputes than those coming before the 
justice of the peace. Appeals from decisions 
of the county court may be made to the higher 
state courts. 2 

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

We have now learned that the people of the 
town, village, city, and county have each their 
own local government, existing largely for the 
purpose of doing certain kinds of local public 
work. While the work of these governments is 
performed almost entirely by local officers, the 
governments themselves are carried on accord- 
ing to state laws. Although these local gov- 
ernments are in a strict legal sense created by 
the state, their real life depends on the people of 
the localities which they serve. The voters of the 

1 In Connecticut the Superior Court and the Court of Common 
Pleas, whose judges are appointed by the governor, act as county 
courts. 

2 See Chapter XIII. 



102 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

town, village, city, and county may make their 
local governments good or bad, a help or a bur- 
den, according as they choose competent or in- 
competent local officers, and then hold or neg- 
lect to hold them to the proper performance of 
their work. 

Suggestive Questions 

How are state laws not found in the constitution enacted? 
Name and describe the two " houses " of your state legislature. 
How are the members of each " house " chosen? For what 
terms of office? Give an account of the governor's veto. W T hat 
do we mean when we say that a law is " unconstitutional "? 

Name four executive officers of your state government, and 
describe the duties of each. 

Name the highest court in your state. Where does it sit? 
How many judges compose it? Are they appointed or elected? 
For what terms of office? 

How many counties in your state? How are counties formed? 
Describe the origin of the county in England. 

Are your county laws made by commissioners or by the board 
of supervisors? Name and locate your " county seat." 

Name six executive officers of the county. Describe the 
work of the sheriff, the county clerk or recorder, the stale's 
attorney, the county court. 



CHAPTER XI 

GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: HOW 
IT CAME ABOUT, WHAT IT DOES FOR THE 
PEOPLE 

In our study of government in the different 
political divisions we have seen that the voters 
everywhere, directly or indirectly, make and en- 
force their own laws. In the town-meeting, we 
saw them agree directly, " yes " or " no," to pro- 
posed laws. So in the adoption of state consti- 
tutions. In the city council, county board, and 
state legislature, we saw the voters indirectly 
make the laws through their chosen representa- 
tives. In the same way we have seen that 
nearly all laws are enforced by representatives of 
the voters. Thus, everywhere we find the voters 
behind the different local governments and re- 
sponsible for them. The same is true of the 
greater government of the United States. We 
have such a government because the voters, 
through their representatives, have agreed to it. 
Where and when was this agreement made? 



104 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

This agreement was first made in the Declara- 
tion of Independence. A Congress chosen by 
the voters of the thirteen colonies met at Phila- 
delphia during the Revolutionary War, and took 
steps to raise an army to defend the colonies 
against the army of Great Britain. On July 4, 
1776, the members of this Congress, acting as 
" representatives of the United States/' and by 
authority " of the good people of the colonies/' 
declared the colonies " free and independent 
states." 1 This was the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, whose adoption we celebrate every Fourth 
of July. 

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 

In its next step Congress agreed to a form of 
government for the United States. The agree- 
ment was made November 15, 1777, when Con- 
gress adopted " Articles of Confederation and 
Perpetual Union between the States." These 
were sent to representatives of the people in the 
state legislatures and accepted by them. The 
last legislature to accept the Articles did so 

1 From the Declaration of Independence. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 105 

March 1, 1781, nearly five years after the Decla- 
ration of Independence. 

A WEAK NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 

The Articles of Confederation gave the people 
a form of national government, but it did not 
prove satisfactory. It was too weak to hold the 
thirteen states together successfully. Under it 
the states quarreled with one another. Some 
refused to pay their share of taxes necessary to 
carry on the national government, and the gov- 
ernment was too weak to make them pay. 
States taxed articles coming into them from 
other states. This hindered trade and prevented 
the close union necessary to a strong national 
government. 

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION 

At last the people saw that they must have a 
stronger national government. The state legis- 
latures chose delegates to meet in convention, 
May, 1787, at Philadelphia, to form such a gov- 
ernment. It was attended by some of the ablest 
men in the United States. Washington was its 
president, and among its members were Frank- 



106 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

lin, Madison, and Hamilton. After much dis- 
cussion, the convention agreed upon the form 
of government known as the Constitution of the 
United States. This Constitution, with but 
few changes since it came from the convention 
of 1787, may be found in any school history of 
the United States. 

ADOPTING THE CONSTITUTION 

The Constitution was at once sent to the dif- 
ferent states. There it was discussed in conven- 
tions chosen by the voters. When conventions 
in nine states agreed to it, the Constitution be- 
came the law. It went into effect March 4, 
1789, and under it George Washington was 
chosen the first President of the United States. 

THE WORK OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 

What does the government of the United 
States do for the people? In the town we saw 
government caring largely for roads and bridges. 
In the village we saw it supply paved streets, 
sidewalks, street lamps, and water-works. In the 
city we saw greater quantities of these neces- 
sary public works supplied. We saw state and 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 107 

county governments combine to keep order and 
protect the people in the enjoyment of their lives 
and property. We saw the state with other 
local governments furnishing a free public school 
education for every child. What is there left 
for the government of the United States to do? 
Many things. And these may be found in the 
Constitution of the United States. As we read 
this Constitution, we find that the United States 
does those things that can be done best by a 
government greater and more powerful than the 
governments of the state and its smaller political 
divisions. 

CARRYING THE MAIL 

First and very important among the things 
done by the government of the United States is 
the collection, carrying, and distribution of the 
mail. Formerly, letters were carried by private 
persons, and it cost twenty-five cents to send a 
letter from New York to San Francisco. Now, 
the United States Government takes it for two 
cents. It carries so many millions of letters for 
short distances, at a cost to itself of less than two 
cents, that it can afford, in the interest of the 



108 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

people, to lose money on its long-distance letters. 
No private company could compete with the 
United States in this public service. Many 
people think the government should add the 
telegraph to its post-offices and so give the peo- 
ple a better and cheaper telegraph service. This 
is done by most European governments. 

THE UNITED STATES REGULATES FOREIGN 
INTERCOURSE 

The United States regulates the trade of our 
people with foreign countries. This it does by 
tariff laws, imposing taxes on imported goods, 
and by reciprocity treaties, allowing goods from 
certain foreign countries to come into the United 
States free or at a low rate of taxation, when 
these nations give the same privilege to us. Such 
treaties are bargains made between the different 
governments as agreements are made betw r een 
two or more people. Under similar treaties 
foreign governments surrender escaped criminals 
to the officers of the United States, and we re- 
turn the favor. The United States Government 
admits foreigners to citizenship here, and also 
keeps out of the country certain undesirable 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 109 

persons, such as criminals and paupers who come 
from other countries. The same government 
controls our United States army and navy and 
protects our coasts by forts and lighthouses. It 
alone may make war upon a foreign nation. In 
order to communicate with foreign governments 
the United States sends ambassadors to reside 
at their capitals, while other United States offi- 
cials, known as consuls, are kept in foreign ports 
to look after the interests of our citizens when 
abroad. 

THE UNITED STATES COINS AND ISSUES MONEY 

If we look at the next coin or piece of paper 
money that comes to hand we shall probably 
find on it the stamp or imprint of the United 
States. No state or other local government may 
coin money or issue paper money. This power 
belongs to the United States alone. The money 
of the United States consists of gold and silver 
coins, gold and silver certificates, and " green- 
backs." The last three are of paper. Every 
dollar of United States money, whether of paper 
or of coin, may be exchanged for any other 
dollar. The paper dollars pass from hand to 



110 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

hand equally well with the gold dollars, because 
the United States Government stands ready at 
any time to give a gold dollar in exchange for one 
of its paper dollars. Bank bills or notes are not, 
in a strict sense, money, for people are not 
obliged by law to take them in payment of any 
debt; but bank bills are accepted as equal in 
value to money of similar denominations, be- 
cause the government compels the banks to 
deposit with it its own government notes or 
promises to pay, which are payable in gold, and 
which may be sold at any time, if necessary to 
make good the bank bills. 

POWER OF THE UNITED STATES TO LAY TAXES 

We have discovered that no government would 
be worth much that had not the power to impose 
taxes and collect them from its people. So the 
Constitution gives the United States Govern- 
ment this power, including the power to borrow 
money. United States taxes, as we have learned, 
are mostly collected, not as direct taxes upon 
the value of property, but as a " tariff " on im- 
ported goods, and as excise taxes on certain 
manufactured articles. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 111 

GOVERNMENT OF UNITED STATES TERRITORY 

Of course, territory belonging to the United 
States, and not cut up into states, as Alaska, 
Porto Rico, and the Philippines, is governed by 
laws made by the United States Government. 
The District of Columbia, where the city of 
Washington is located, is under the same gov- 
ernment. So are all shipyards, forts, and other 
military and naval reservations of the United 
States. 

OTHER POWERS OF THE UNITED STATES 

Article I, Sections 8 and 9, of the United 
States Constitution, recite more in detail these 
powers and duties of the United States Govern- 
ment. Every student who wishes to understand 
the relations between this government and the 
governments of the states should read carefully 
the Constitution of the United States. 

Suggestive Questions 

What body adopted the Declaration of Independence? By 
whose authority? 

Why were the Articles of Confederation a failure as a form 
of national government? 



112 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

When was our present Constitution formed? By what 
body? How was the Constitution adopted? 

Name four things done by the United States Government 
which a state government may not do. What is a treaty? 
How is it made? What are ' ambassadors? Consuls? 

Name the different kinds of United States money. Why is 
one kind as good as another? Who makes laws for the gov- 
ernment of United States territory? 



Let, then, the rising generation be inspired with an 
ardent love for their country, and an unquenchable 
thirst for liberty, and a profound reverence for the Con- 
stitution and the Union. Let the American youth 
never forget that they possess a noble inheritance, bought 
by the toils and sufferings and blood of their ancestors, 
and capable, if wisely improved and faithfully guarded, 
of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial 
blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, of 
property, of religion, and of independence. The struc- 
ture has been erected by architects of consummate skill 
and fidelity; its foundations are solid; its compart- 
ments are beautiful as well as useful; its arrangements 
are full of wisdom and order; and its defenses are im- 
pregnable from without. — Joseph Story. 



CHAPTER XII 

HOW UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS 
CARRIED ON 

How does the government of the United States 
do its work? Like the state and the other local 
governments, it works in three departments, — 
legislative or lawmaking, executive or law- 
enforcing, and judicial. 

CONGRESS 

The chief power in the lawmaking department 
of the United States is Congress. Congress 
meets regularly, once a year, in the national 
capitol building at Washington. Like the State 
Legislature, it is composed of two bodies or 
houses. The upper house is the United States 
Senate. This is composed of two senators from 
each state. They are chosen for terms of six 
years each by the voters of the state. The lower 
house is the House of Representatives. Repre- 
sentatives are chosen by the voters, and each 
state sends representatives to Congress in pro- 



114 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

portion to its population. Thus New York, with 
a population of 9,113,614, sends forty-three 
representatives; Connecticut, with 1,114,756 
people, sends five representatives; Arizona, 
with 204,354 people, sends one representative 
to Congress. There are now 435 members of 
the House of Representatives. Its members are 
elected for terms of two years each, and they 
are usually chosen from congressional districts. 
Each state entitled to more than one representa- 
tive is divided into congressional districts, 1 and 
the voters in each district choose, once every 
two years, a representative for the district. 2 

HOW UNITED STATES LAWS ARE MADE 

Congress makes laws for the entire United 
States. Thus, laws taxing goods brought into 
the United States from foreign countries are 
made by Congress. So is the law fixing the 
time that a foreigner must live in the United 
States before becoming a citizen. When a law 
has been agreed upon by a majority in both 

1 See map, page 95. 

2 Representatives-at-large are sometimes elected by the voters of 
the entire state. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 115 

Senate and House of Representatives, it is sent 
to the President of the United States. If the 
President approve it, he signs it and returns it 
to Congress. If he does not approve it, he may, 
like the governor of a state, veto it. 1 If he veto 
a bill it does not become law unless Congress 
repasses it over the veto by two-thirds of the 
members of each house voting in its favor. 



THE PRESIDENT 

Laws of the United States are enforced by 
executive officers, at the head of whom is the 
President. He is chosen once in every four 
years by electors, who are themselves chosen by 
the voters of the states. The voters of a state 
choose as many electors as it has United States 
senators and representatives. Thus New York, 
with forty-three representatives and two sena- 
tors, has forty-five presidential electors. 2 The 

1 Bills remaining for ten days unsigned in the hands of the Presi- 
dent while Congress is in session become laws without his signature. 
But if Congress adjourn before the expiration of the ten days and 
a bill then remains unsigned, it fails to become law. The failure 
of the President to sign such a bill is called a " pocket-veto." 

2 See page 164 for table of United States senators, representatives, 
and presidential electors. 



116 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

electors meet at the different state capitals in the 
January after their election and vote for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President of the United States. 
Those receiving a majority of the votes of the 
electors are chosen. If no one receive a ma- 
jority, the members of the House of Representa- 
tives choose the President and Vice-President. 
The President, with the consent of the Senate, 
appoints many subordinate officers. He may 
also remove officers appointed by him. 1 He is 
the head of the army and navy, and may direct 
these powerful bodies, in both peace and war, 
to carry out the laws of the United States. 

THE PRESIDENTS CABINET 

The work of enforcing and administering the 
laws of the United States is carried on in ten 
departments. The heads of these are appointed 
by the President, with the consent of the Senate, 
and together are known as the President's Cabi- 
net. These are the departments, with their 
heads, and a brief outline of the work of each : 

1 Many subordinate officers are appointed as the result of civil 
service examinations, held to determine their merit and fitness. 
These may not be removed, as a rule, except for cause. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 117 

The Department of State, headed by the Secre- 
tary of State, carries on the official intercourse 
of the United States Government with foreign 
governments. The Treasury Department, headed 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, has charge of 
the money matters of the national government. 
The War Department, at the head of which is the 
Secretary of War, has charge of the army. The 
Navy Department, under the Secretary of the 
Navy, controls the navy of the United States. 
The Department of the Interior, headed by the 
Secretary of the Interior, has charge of public 
lands of the United States, of patents, pensions, 
and Indian affairs. The Post-Office Department 
is headed by the Postmaster-General. The De- 
partment of Justice is headed by the Attorney- 
General, who prosecutes persons accused of 
breaking United States laws. The Department 
of Agriculture, under the Secretary of Agriculture, 
looks after the interests of the farmers. The 
Department of Commerce, headed by the Secre- 
tary of Commerce, aids in the development of 
commerce and the industries. The Department 
of Labor, under the Secretary of Labor, looks 
after the interests of the laboring classes. 



THE VICE-PRESIDENT 

This officer presides over the United States 
Senate. He takes the place of the President, 



118 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

should the latter die or become unable to per- 
form the duties of his office. 1 



UNITED STATES COURTS AND JUDGES 

The United States Government has its own 
courts and judges. Persons accused of breaking 
United States laws are tried before these courts. 
So are disputes which involve United States law. 
Thus, a person accused of robbing the mail would 
be tried in a United States court, but one accused 
of ordinary theft, such as picking a pocket, 
would be tried in a state court. Highest of all 
the United States courts is the Supreme Court. 
It is composed of a chief justice and eight 
associate justices. They are appointed by the 
President and hold their offices for life or during 
good behavior. This court has the important 
duty of deciding whether laws passed by Con- 
gress are in accord with the Constitution of the 
United States. It has thus been a powerful 

1 Should both the President and Vice-President die or become un- 
able to perform the duties of President, the following officers, if 
qualified, would act as President in the order named: 1, Secretary 
of State; 2, Secretary of the Treasury; 3, Secretary of War; 4, 
Attorney-General; 5, Postmaster-General; 6, Secretary of the Navy; 
7, Secretary of the Interior. 



GOVERNMENT JN THE UNITED STATES 119 

force in determining the work of the govern- 
ment through its explanations and interpreta- 
tions of different parts of the Constitution. Be- 
low the Supreme Court are the United States 
Circuit and District Courts, with judges ap- 
pointed by the President. Attached to all these 
courts are United States marshals, whose duty 
it is to arrest criminals and carry out the orders 
of the courts. 

DIVISION OF THE WORK OF GOVERNMENT 

We have now studied the work of government 
in the United States and in its different political 
divisions. We see that the government of each 
division has its own special work to do. The 
work of government has been thus divided by 
the voters through the constitutions, state and 
national. As we come to study the United 
States Constitution we shall see this division 
made still clearer. We shall find that the voters, 
through this Constitution, have given certain 
definite specified powers to the United States 
Government, to be exercised by it alone. Thus, 
the United States Government has control over 
our foreign relations, and no state or other local 



120 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

government may make any law respecting them. 1 
So the United States alone may coin money and 
have an army and a navy. All powers not spe- 
cifically given to the United States Government 
by the Constitution are left to be exercised by 
the states and their local governments, except 
those powers which the voters, through the Con- 
stitution, have reserved to themselves, and for- 
bidden any government to exercise. 2 We thus 
see that the voters are back of all the different 
governments and responsible for them. They 
may change these governments as they see fit, 
such changes being made by alterations in the 
different constitutions, and in the state and 
national laws. 

AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION 

And this brings us to the manner in which 
constitutions may be changed. In our study of 
the state, we saw that its voters may alter its 
constitution in much the same way that it was 
originally adopted: through a convention of 
delegates called for that purpose, or by the legis- 

1 U. S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 10. 

2 U. S. Constitution, Amendments IX and X. 



GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 121 

lature submitting proposed changes to be voted 
upon, " yes " or " no/' by the voters. The 
United States Constitution may be changed 
after two-thirds of both houses of Congress or 
two-thirds of the state legislatures have pro- 
posed certain changes. Such proposed changes 
become the law only when agreed to by three- 
fourths of the state legislatures, or by conven- 
tions of the people in three-fourths of the states. 1 

Suggestive Questions 

What two bodies constitute the Congress of the United 
States? How many members in each? How are they chosen? 
For what terms of office? How may a bill vetoed by the 
President become a law? 

Describe the method of electing the President. For how 
long is he chosen? When may the President be elected by the 
House of Representatives? How many presidential electors 
are chosen in your state? How is the number determined? 

Name the officers constituting the President's Cabinet. De- 
scribe the work of each. 

Describe the Supreme Court of the United States. How 
does the Constitution divide the powers of government be- 
tween the national and the state governments? How may 
the Constitution be amended? 

1 See United States Constitution, Art. V. 



122 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



Thou hast a deeper, stronger hold, 

Flag of my country! on my heart, 
Than when o'er mustered hosts unfurled 
Thou art a signal to the world 

At which the nations start. 

Thou art a symbol of the power 

Whose sheltering wings our homes surround; 
Guarded by thee was childhood's morn, 
And where thy cheering folds are borne 

Order and peace are found. 

Flag of our mighty Union, hail! 

Blessings abound where thou dost float, 
Best robe for Freedom's living form, 
Fit pall to spread upon her tomb, 

Should Heaven to death devote. 

Wave over us in glory still, 

And be our guardian as now 
Each wind of Heaven salutes thy streaks! 
And withered be the arm that seeks 

To bring that banner low! 

William Parsons Lunt. 









CHAPTER Xin 
SOME RIGHTS AND DUTIES 

We sometimes hear a person say, " I have a 
right to do this "; or, " You have no right to do 
. that." Or we may hear it said: " This is my 
right; that is your duty." What is here meant 
by the words, " right " and " duty "? What are 
our rights? How do we come by them? What, 
also, are our duties? 

THE RIGHT TO LIFE 

First, we may say that certain rights are in- 
herent in every person. What does this mean? 
It means that the rights naturally belong to us; 
that they are born with us; that they cannot 
be taken away from us without doing us an in- 
justice. Such a natural or inherent right is every 
person's right to his life. Every one has a right 
to live. No one has the right to take the life 
of another. The man who willfully and mali- 
ciously takes the life of another person is a 



124 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

murderer, and most states punish the murderer 
by depriving him of his own life. 

Yet there are times when the law allows one 
to take life. Thus a man may, in self-defense, 
in order to save his own life or the life of another, 
maim or kill one who is attacking him. In war 
it is the legal duty of the soldier to shoot his 
enemy, when commanded to do so by his su- 
perior officer. But many persons think that 
war is unjustifiable — that it is not proper for 
nations, any more than it is for individuals, to 
employ force and to take life, in order to settle 
disputes. However that may be, the time has 
not arrived when the nations of the earth have 
learned to settle all their disputes by arbitration 
or by other peaceful means, instead of by war. 
Because of this the government has a lawful right 
to order its able-bodied citizens to take up arms 
against its enemies. It thus happens that the 
citizen may sometimes be compelled to give up 
his own life in order to preserve what are re- 
garded as the rights of the nation. 1 

1 In this country only the government of the United States has 
the right to make war. A state, however, when in danger of invasion 
by a foreign foe, may call upon its own citizens to take up arms in its 
defense. See U. S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 10. 



SOME RIGHTS AND DUTIES 125 

THE RIGHT TO LIBERTY 

Besides his right to life, every one has a 
natural right to be free and unrestrained. For 
without freedom he cannot fully enjoy his right 
to life. But the right to freedom of action stops 
when the act is one that interferes unjustly with 
the rights of another. Thus, a man has a 
natural right to make all the noise he sees fit, 
but if he attempts to exercise this right in the 
crowded streets of a city, he will find himself re- 
strained by officers acting under the law that 
forbids him from unnecessarily disturbing his 
neighbors. Many acts which are in themselves 
right and harmless are thus forbidden by the 
law because they may interfere with the peace 
and comfort of others. This restraint of indi- 
vidual freedom for the benefit of all is known as 
civil liberty, or liberty within the law. 

THE RIGHT TO PERSONAL SECURITY 

Closely connected with our rights to life and 
liberty is our right to be safe and secure in the 
exercise of these rights. If we were unable to go 
upon the streets without constant fear of great 
danger, our enjoyment of life and liberty would 



126 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

be greatly lessened. So, too, if we lived in con- 
stant danger of contagious disease. That we 
may enjoy life and liberty, the government un- 
dertakes to protect us in our right to be reason- 
ably safe and free from danger. It protects 
us by forbidding the dangerous acts of others. 
Thus, the government forbids the construction 
of unsafe buildings, and the careless storing and 
use of dynamite and other explosives. For the 
same reason, it may compel each householder to 
keep his premises clean and free from conditions 
that breed disease. If a person threaten to do 
us bodily injury, we may have him arrested and 
brought into court, where he may be compelled 
to give a pledge or bond that he will keep the 
peace. So if a person lie about us to the injury 
of our reputation we may have him arrested and 
punished. These are but a few of the many 
ways the government undertakes to protect us 
in our right to personal security. 

THE RIGHT TO PROPERTY 

Every one has a natural right to that which is 
his own. If you join sticks and paper to make 
a kite, the kite belongs to you. If you find a 



SOME RIGHTS AND DUTIES 127 

piece of money and cannot discover the person 
who lost it, it is yours. If you work for wages, 
after you are twenty-one years of age, the money 
is yours. You may do what you like with it, 
so long as you do not use it in a way to interfere 
with the rights of others. You may buy land 
and cultivate a garden, and the products will 
belong to you. You may build a house on your 
land, and the law will protect you in your right 
to own and use it, so long as you do not use it 
in a way to injure others. But if you use it for 
unlawful purposes the officers of the law will 
restrain you. Thus, all private property is 
owned subject to the greater rights of the com- 
munity. No person may take your property 
or destroy it, except officers of the government 
acting under the laws. It sometimes happens 
that a man's private property is needed for 
public uses. For instance, the land on which 
your house stands may be needed for a public 
park. In that case your land may be taken, 
but the government must pay you a reasonable 
price for it. This right to take private property 
is called the state's Right of Eminent Domain. 
It is similar to the government's right to order 



128 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

its citizens to take up arms in war, even though 
these citizens may lose their own lives by so 
doing. 

GOVERNMENT PROTECTS US IN OUR RIGHTS 

How does the government protect us in our 
rights? First, it protects us by making laws to 
punish those who deprive us of these rights. 
Thus, if a man unjustly attack another, the 
police will arrest him and the courts will try him, 
and if found guilty, he will be fined or locked up. 
Much the same thing happens when one person 
wrongfully takes the property of another. We 
thus see that rights may be forfeited for wrong- 
doing. The violent and disorderly person may 
be temporarily deprived of his right to liberty. 
The man committing murder may be deprived 
of his own life; while in other instances, a person 
breaking the laws may be deprived of some por- 
tion of his property by a fine. 

THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS 1 

When one is arrested or otherwise restrained, 
and there seems to be a question of the right 

1 Habeas Corpus comes from the Latin, and means, literally, to 
have the body. 



SOME RIGHTS AND DUTIES 129 

thus to restrain him, his friends may go before a 
judge and ask for a paper known as the Writ of 
Habeas Corpus. This writ commands those de- 
priving him of his liberty to bring him before the 
judge, that it may be decided whether or not he 
is wrongfully restrained. The right to the Writ 
of Habeas Corpus is one of the oldest and most 
famous rights of the English-speaking people. 
So important is it regarded that the right has 
been affirmed in our United States Constitution, 
and in most, if not all, of the state constitutions. 
The President has power to suspend temporarily 
this right in time of rebellion or other great 
public danger. 

NO RIGHTS WITHOUT CORRESPONDING DUTIES 

There is no right without some corresponding 
duty. Thus, while it is your right to be free and 
unrestrained, it is the duty of others not to in- 
terfere unnecessarily with your freedom. In 
the same way, it is your duty not to interfere 
with the freedom of others. As you have a right 
to your own property, so it is the duty of others 
not to disturb you in its possession. It is also 
your duty to respect this right of others. As 



130 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

under our laws it is the right of every child to 
obtain a free education in the public schools, so 
it is the child's corresponding duty to make the 
best use of the schoolhouse, the free textbooks 
furnished, and the free instruction given by the 
teacher. No pupil who is idle or disorderly in 
school does his full duty to the state that pro- 
tects him in his right to an education. 

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE CITIZEN 

As the government protects us in the posses- 
sion and enjoyment of our rights, so it is our 
duty to do our share to sustain the government. 
It is our duty to pay our just share of reasonable 
taxes imposed by government, and to come to 
its defense when necessary. Is it not also every 
citizen's duty to aid his government in the per- 
formance of its duties, by helping to select and 
elect the right kind of public officers? 

Suggestive Questions 

What is meant by " civil liberty "? How does it differ 
from free and unrestrained license? 

Name four natural inherent rights. How does the govern- 
ment protect us in the enjoyment of our rights? 



SOME RIGHTS AND DUTIES 131 

What is the Writ of Habeas Corpus? How may it be ob- 
tained? For what purpose? Who may suspend the operation 
of our right to this writ? What instrument gives authority 
to suspend it? 

What are the duties of the government to the citizen? 

What are the citizen's duties to the government? 

Describe the Right of Eminent Domain. 



We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights; that among these are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned; that whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to 
alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, 
laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing 
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness. 

Declaration of Independence. 

Respect for the authority of the government, com- 
pliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, 
are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true 
liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right 
of the people to make and alter their constitutions of 
government. But the constitution which at any time 
exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of 
the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. 

George Washington. 



CHAPTER XIV 

GOING TO LAW 

In the previous chapter we learned that the 
government protects us in our rights, and that it 
enforces certain duties upon us. We shall now 
learn more of the manner in which these rights 
are protected and these duties enforced. 

ENFORCING PROPERTY RIGHTS 

Suppose a man owes you money, but refuses 
to pay his debt. How will the government aid 
you in securing your right to the money? First, 
the law allows you to sue the man who owes you. 
You may go into court and complain against 
your debtor. The judge will then issue a paper 
called a summons, commanding the debtor to 
appear and answer to your complaint. The 
summons is served on the debtor by some one 
acting as an officer of the court. If the debtor 
does not appear at the proper time and answer 
to your complaint, the judge will give judgment 



GOING TO LAW 133 

that you are entitled to your money, and will 
order an executive officer — usually the sheriff 
— to seize property of the debtor and sell it, 
and out of the proceeds pay the amount that is 
owing to you. 

CIVIL SUITS AT LAW 

But suppose your debtor comes into court and 
denies that he owes you. There must now be a 
trial of the issue of fact that has arisen. The 
judge may hear both sides of the dispute, or a 
jury may be summoned to decide the question 
in dispute. You may have a lawyer to present 
your side of the matter, and your opponent also 
may have a lawyer. You both may bring wit- 
nesses into court to prove the truth of your 
statements. The jury, after hearing the evi- 
dence, and after listening to the judge's state- 
ment of the law, 1 then decides whether or not 
you are entitled to the money. This decision 
is called the verdict of the jury. If the verdict 
be in your favor, the judge gives judgment as 
described before; if against you, judgment is 
given for the defendant. If, after judgment, 

1 Sometimes called the judge's " charge." 



134 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

either of you thinks that an error has been made, 
he may appeal the matter to a higher court. 
This formal proceeding to secure your property 
rights is termed a civil suit at law. 

PROCEDURE IN CASE OF CRIME 

But suppose a thief breaks into your house 
and steals your money. What is then to be 
done? In this case a crime has been committed 
against the state, as well as a private wrong 
against yourself. The state, through its officers 
of justice, will now pursue the criminal to 
punish him for breaking the law, 

THE WARRANT AND ARREST 

The first step taken by the officers is to ar- 
rest the criminal. If he is seen committing the 
crime, any policeman, constable, or court officer 
may arrest him. So may any citizen. But if 
the criminal escape, some one usually goes before 
a judge and asks for a paper called a warrant, 
commanding an officer to arrest the criminal. 

RIGHTS OF ACCUSED PERSONS 

If the criminal resist the officer, force may be 
used to arrest him. He may even be maimed 



GOING TO LAW 135 

or shot if necessary to make him submit. When 
brought into court the judge may examine him 
or he may order him to be locked up to be tried 
at some future time. In his examination the 
law protects the prisoner by allowing him to re- 
fuse to answer any question that might tend to 
prove him guilty. If the prisoner be detained 
without trial for what appears to be an unreason- 
able time, his friends may by the writ of habeas 
corpus, described in the preceding chapter, have 
him brought into court. 

THE GRAND JURY AND ITS INDICTMENT 

It is usual when grave crimes are charged, such 
as theft and robbery, to have the matter in- 
quired into by a body of men known as the grand 
jury. The grand jury consists of sixteen to 
twenty-three men, who are selected from the 
county by officers of the courts. The charge 
against the prisoner is presented to the grand 
jury by the state's attorney 1 in a written accu- 
sation known as the bill of indictment. The 
grand jury, after listening to the indictment, 
and after hearing the evidence against the 

1 See p. 100. 



136 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

prisoner, may hold him for trial, or they may 
let him go free. If held for trial, the prisoner is 
said to be " indie ted/ ' 

THE RIGHT OF BAIL 

An accused person awaiting trial may be 
locked up or he may be released on giving bail. 
The prisoner " gives bail " by getting some one 
to pledge a sum fixed by the court that he will 
appear at the time set for his trial. The right 
of an accused person to be released on giving 
reasonable bail is guaranteed by our constitu- 
tions, both state and national. 1 It has long 
been a right of the English-speaking people. 

THE PRISONER IN COURT 

When the prisoner comes into court for trial 
he is called upon to plead or answer to the charge 
against him. He may plead " guilty " or " not 
guilty." If he plead guilty, the judge sentences 
him to the punishment fixed by the law for his 
offense. If he plead not guilty, the state's at- 
torney must proceed in his attempt to prove him 
guilty. A trial jury of twelve men, summoned 

1 A person charged with murder is not allowed to give bail. 



GOING TO LAW 137 

as in a civil suit, listens to the evidence for and 
against the prisoner. 

THE VERDICT OF THE JURY 

After hearing the witnesses for and against the 
prisoner, the summing up of the case by the law- 
yers, and the judge's statement of the law, the 
jury decides whether the prisoner be guilty or 
not guilty. All of the jurymen must agree in 
the verdict found. A prisoner found " not 
guilty " by the jury must be released, and he can- 
not be tried again for the offense. If the pris- 
oner be found " guilty/' the judge sentences 
him, as described before. As in a civil suit, the 
prisoner may appeal to a higher court for a new 
trial, if he considers that an error has been made. 

COURTS ENUMERATED 

The lowest courts, the ones in which small 
offenses are tried, are the courts of justices of the 
peace and of police justices. Above these courts 
is the county court, presided over by the county 
judge. Still higher is the state superior court, 1 
which usually has a branch in each county. In 

1 Called by different names in the different states. 



138 HOW THE PEOPLE HULK 

this court the gravest offenses against the state, 
such as theft and murder, may be tried. High- 
est of all is the state supreme court, 1 which is 
principally a court in which appeals from the 
lower courts are decided. Offenses against the 
laws of the United States are, as we have learned, 
tried in the United States courts. The lowest 
of these is the district court. Above this is the 
circuit court, and highest of all is the Supreme 
Court of the United States, which sits at Wash- 
ington. 

THE COURTS AND THE CONSTITUTION 

Among the most important work of the highest 
courts, both state and United States, is the duty 
of deciding whether statutes passed by the law- 
making bodies are in accord with the constitu- 
tions. Such decisions are made as the result 
of suits brought by persons who feel aggrieved 
at the working of particular statutes, and who 
charge that they are not in accord with the 
constitution. 

1 Called the Court of Appeals in New York. 



(JOINT, TO LAW 



L39 



Suggestive Questions 

How are property rights enforced? What is the trial jury? 
How is it obtained? 

What is a warrant? Name three rights of a person accused 
of crime. Describe the grand jury. 

What is an indictment? What is the duty of the state's 
attorney in a criminal suit? Describe the right of bail. 



He who asketh himself how much justice is worth, 
profaneth justice in Ids heart; and he who stoppclh to 
calculate what liberty will east, hath renounced liberty 
in his heart. Liberty and justice will weigh you in 
the same balance in which you hove weighed I hem. If 
there be a people 071 earth who think less of justice and 
liberty than the laborer doth of his harvest, or the work- 
man of Ids daily bread, or the merchant of his wealth, 
or the mariner of his repose, or the soldier of his glory: 
build around that people a high wall, that I heir breath 
infest not the rest of the world. — Lamknnais. 



CHAPTER XV 
PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 

Much has been said in this little book about 
the duty of the voters to select honest and capa- 
ble men for public officers. Let us see how this 
work of the voters is done. Suppose a mayor is 
to be chosen in your city, or an alderman in your 
ward, or a supervisor in your town. How do 
the voters go about it? 

We will suppose that it is election day, and 
that your father and big brother go up to the 
polls to vote. In most states they will find, on 
reaching the voting-place, a number of election 
officers sitting behind a bench or table on which 
are arranged ballot boxes and piles of official 
ballots. A specimen official ballot, you re- 
member, was given in Chapter III. Turn back 
to page 26 and examine it. 

THE OFFICIAL BALLOT 

On this ballot, one of which is handed to every 
voter, you see a long list of names arranged in 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 141 

columns. 1 Now look at the words heading the 
different columns. You find the words, " Re- 
publican/' " Democratic/' " Prohibition/' " Peo- 
ple's Party/' " Socialist Labor/' etc. You also 
find a column left blank for independent nomi- 
nations. 

HOW THE BALLOT IS VOTED 

Suppose your father is a Democrat and 
wishes to vote " the straight Democratic ticket." 
He takes the official ballot into a little voting- 
booth or stall, and with a pencil marks the 
column headed " Democratic." Suppose he 
wishes to vote for some Republicans or Labor 
Party men. He will indicate this by a pencil 
mark opposite the names of the men for whom 
he wishes to vote. 2 He then folds his ballot, 
comes out of the booth, gives the ballot to an 
election officer, who drops it, still folded, into 
the ballot box. This choosing of our public 
officers seems to be a very simple matter, doesn't 

1 The ballot has different forms in the different states. The 
teacher should get the ballot of his own state and study it with the 
class. 

2 If he does not wish to vote for any man named by the regular 
parties for a particular office, he may write the name of his choice in 
the blank column. 



142 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

it? But that is where a great many of our well- 
meaning voters are mistaken. The truth is, 
that no duty of the citizen requires more careful 
and painstaking effort. Let us look into this 
matter. 

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS 

The voter, as he goes to the polling-place, finds 
his ballot already made up for him. Who made 
it? Who selected the names on the ballot that 
is put into his hands? And how were they 
selected? Are they names of men who, if 
elected to office, will serve the people well, or are 
they men who will work simply to advance their 
own private interests or the interests of those 
who put them on the ballot? These are very 
important questions. Let us take the names in 
a single party column and try to answer these 
questions. An answer for one party will not 
be far out of the way for the others. 

WHY WE HAVE POLITICAL PARTIES 

We know how and why an army is organized- 
It is organized for a purpose. It has its leaders 
who direct it, and its rank and file who obey 
orders — all for the accomplishment of its pur- 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 143 

pose. In our last war the purpose of the army 
was to beat Spain, and officers and men all 
worked for this common end. It is much the 
same with a political party. It is organized for 
a purpose — to get the offices. It has its leaders 
and its men — all working for this end. Of 
course, many members of the party wish it to 
get control of the offices so that some great 
public policy advocated by the party may be 
carried out. For example, the Republicans 
who nominated Abraham Lincoln for President 
in 1860 wished to get the offices so that they 
might keep slavery out of the territories. But 
there are always many members of a party who 
wish it to win chiefly that their friends may have 
the honor and money that is to be obtained 
through holding the offices. We may say, then, 
that a political party is a great machine or- 
ganized to get the offices. There are usually 
two great parties of about equal strength in 
most parts of this country, and a man who 
works outside of either stands little chance, as a 
rule, of helping to put men in office. The man 
who would have his vote count in the selection 
of public officers must, therefore, as a rule, work 



144 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

with some political party. How do these parties 
work? 

HOW PARTIES WORK 

A party works, first, by having an organiza- 
tion of its voters wherever there are offices to be 
filled. Thus, in a town, there is a town organi- 
zation of Republican voters, and another town 
organization of Democratic voters, and so on. 
In a city there are similar city organizations. 
These are often carried down into the wards and 
election districts. Each organization has its 
officers and its committees through which it does 
its work. All the different organizations of the 
same party work together. Thus, the party 
with which your father votes may have its 
election district organization and committee in 
your election district; its ward organization in 
your ward, composed of committeemen or dele- 
gates from the election districts; its city com- 
mittee, composed of committeemen from each 
ward; its state committee, composed of dele- 
gates from each city and county organization 
of the party; and its national committee, made 
up of delegates from the states. 1 It is the object 

1 This is not always the exact arrangement, but it illustrates the 
working of party committees. 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 145 

of all these committees to select men for public 
office who can win, and to bring out the party 
vote on election day. 

"THE BOSS" AND "THE MACHINE" 

As in every organization there are leaders, so 
each party organization has its leaders, shrewd, 
far-seeing men, who direct it in its efforts to win 
at the elections. Such a party leader is often a 
successful office holder, though he may be merely 
a private citizen. He is known in popular phrase 
as " the boss"; and the men who, under his 
leadership, manage the party organization, are 
known as " the machine." The names on the 
official ballot, if they are for comparatively un- 
important offices, are often selected in secret 
conference by " the boss " and " the machine." 
But candidates for the more important offices, 
such as mayor or governor, must, as a rule, be 
more carefulfy chosen. They must usually be 
public-spirited men, with a reputation for hon- 
esty and ability, men who will attract enough 
independent voters to the party ticket to give it 
a chance of winning. 



146 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

THE PARTY PRIMARY 

But while " the boss " and " the machine ' ; 
may agree in secret upon the names to go on the 
party ballot, the actual selection of these names 
is left to the voters of the party. And this selec- 
tion is made at what is known as " the party 
primary " or " caucus/' A party primary is a 
meeting of all the voters of a party living in a 
particular election district, town, or ward. It 
is something like a town-meeting, except that it 
is attended by the voters of one party only. It 
may be an open meeting at which any voter of 
the party may propose names to go on the party 
ballot, or it may be a meeting where the voters 
decide between different persons who are striv- 
ing to get on the ballot. It is the most impor- 
tant meeting of the voters in a government like 
ours, for, at the primary, steps are first taken to 
select the public officers who make and enforce 
our laws. Very often at a primary meeting the 
voters simply vote for the names, good or bad, 
previously agreed upon by " the boss y ' and 
" the machine." But this is not the course 
adopted by the more intelligent voters. They 
look carefully into the character of the would-be 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS 147 

office holders before voting to place their names 
on the official ballot. 

NOMINATING CONVENTIONS 

Often a primary meeting only selects delegates 
to go to another meeting known as the nominat- 
ing convention , where the real selection of names 
to go on the party ballot is made. Thus the 
party voters may at the primary meetings name 
one or more delegates from each ward to go to a 
city convention, and this city convention selects 
the party's candidate for mayor and other city 
nominees. At such conventions there is often 
great opportunity to influence members to name 
men for office who will work for private inter- 
ests instead of public ends. In order to remedy 
this evil there is a growing feeling among the 
more intelligent voters that most party nomina- 
tions should be made directly by the voters at 
the open party primary meeting. This plan, 
which has been adopted in Minnesota and some 
Southern States, is known as the " direct pri- 
mary system." Under its operation the naming 
of men to go on the party ballot is made by the 
rank and file of the voters. After the different 



148 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

parties have selected their candidates, the final 
choice is made by the voters at the regular 
elections. 

THE VOTER AND THE NOMINATING MACHINERY 

Our Presidents, governors, United States 
representatives, members of state legislatures, 
and other important public officers are usually 
first named for office by nominating conven- 
tions whose members have been selected by 
other conventions in the smaller political divi- 
sions. Thus a Republican candidate for Presi- 
dent of the United States may be named by a 
national nominating convention, made up of 
Republican delegates chosen at conventions in 
the different states; the members of the state 
conventions may, in their turn, have been chosen 
by other conventions in the counties; and only 
the delegates to the county conventions may 
have been chosen directly by the Republican 
voters at the primaries. It is thus a long step 
from the individual voter to his candidate for 
the Presidency, 



PARTIES AND ELECTIONS U9 

Suggestive Questions 

Describe the official ballot used at elections in your state. 
How are names placed on this ballot? 

What is a party primary or caucus? How does it differ 
from a nominating convention? 

How is the mayor named in your city? The supervisor in 
your town? The sheriff in your county? 

Describe the so-called direct primary system. Give a good 
reason for nominating most officers directly at the primaries. 
Give an argument against such a practice. 



We reach the wider field of politics and shape the 
national policy through the town-meeting and the party 
caucus. They should neither be despised nor avoided, 
but made potent in securing the best agents for executing 
the popular will. The influence which goes forth from 
the toivnship and the precinct meetings is felt in state 
and national legislation, and is at last embodied in the 
permanent forms of law and written constitutions. I 
cannot too earnestly invite you to the closest personal 
attention to party and political caucuses and the primary 
meetings of your respective parties. They constitute 
that which goes to make up at last the popular will. 
They lie at the basis of all true reform. It will not do 
to hold yourselves aloof from politics and parties. If 
the party is wrong, make it better; thaVs the business 
of the true partisan and good citizen. — William 
McKinley. 



CHAPTER XVI 
SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 

The voters very often put certain men into 
office because these men stand for or represent 
some particular view of a great public question. 
Thus Mr. McKinley was. made President in 
1896 because a majority of the electors agreed 
with him in demanding a " protective tariff." 
In 1900 he was again made President because he 
stood for this view of the tariff and for money 
ba^ed on a single gold standard. Mr. Bryan, 
on the other hand, was defeated because the 
majority did not agree with him in his demand 
for " free coinage of silver." In 1892 Mr. Cleve- 
land won the Presidency largely because he 
advocated the lowering of the tariff. 

QUESTIONS THAT HAVE DIVIDED THE VOTERS 

Great political parties grow up through a 
union of the voters who agree upon some one 
or more public questions. In 1856 the present 
Republican Party was formed by voters who 



SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 151 

agreed that slavery should be kept out of the 
territories. In our early history the Federalist 
Party, led by John Adams and Alexander Ham- 
ilton, believed in a strong national government, 
while the Anti-Federalists, led by Jefferson, 
stood for " personal liberty " and the rights of 
the individual states against what they believed 
to be the dangerous aggressions of the national 
government. Later the Whig Party, led by 
Henry Clay, stood for a " protective tariff " and 
a United States bank. The Whigs believed also 
that great internal improvements, like canals 
and interstate roads, should be built by the 
national government. They were opposed by 
the Democrats, who believed in a tariff for reve- 
nue only, and who held that the states should 
build necessary canals and roads. 

REASONS FOR VOTING WITH A PARTY 

To-day also the voters are divided largely 
between two great political parties because the 
voters hold differing views on various public 
questions. Smaller parties, like the Socialist 
Labor Party and the Prohibition Party, also 
marshal numerous voters in favor of their pecu- 



152 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

liar views. Every one ought to know something 
of these questions dividing the voters, so that he 
may take an intelligent stand upon them. When 
he comes to vote he should be able to give a good 
reason for the way he casts his ballot. He 
should not vote with a party because his father 
or grandfather voted with it, but because he 
believes in the position the party takes on the 
great public questions of the day. What are 
some of these questions? 

THE "TRUST PROBLEM " 

Foremost among the questions dividing the 
voters is the proper method of treating the great 
business combinations known as " trusts." 
When a business grows too large for one or more 
persons to manage it successfully, the usual plan 
is for a company to be formed by men who unite 
their money and skill in the conduct of the 
business. The company usually goes to the 
legislature of some state and asks for a charter 
permitting it to do business according to the 
laws of the state. 

The company is now known as a corporation. 
Corporations are thus formed for conducting 



SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 153 

railroads, operating mines, carrying on manu- 
factories, etc. We will suppose that such a cor- 
poration is engaged in manufacturing iron and 
steel. It comes into competition with other 
corporations and firms engaged in the same 
business. Each tries to sell all the iron possible, 
even to the extent of securing customers and 
trade from the others. 

At last the different corporations and firms 
find it for their mutual interests to stop com- 
peting with one another for the favor of cus- 
tomers. They agree to unite their interests, 
instead, in one huge concern. They may thus 
regulate the amount of iron and steel produced, 
and they may cut down expenses by doing away 
with unnecessary employees and the running of 
unnecessary machinery. They are now known 
as a a trust. " The trust, if it can do away 
with competition, has it in its power to raise 
the price of goods made of iron. People who 
use iron and steel must pay the trust price or 
go without. 

What shall be done with trusts? Many 
people think that trusts should be absolutely 
prohibited, and there are now numerous laws 



154 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

against them. Others hold that tariff duties 
should be taken from articles similar to those 
made by the trusts, in order to invite the com- 
petition of foreign manufacturers. Still others 
believe that trusts, rightly managed, should 
prove of benefit to the people by doing away 
with the needless wastes of competition. These 
people would have the government regulate 
the operations of trusts in the interest of fair 
dealing. 

THE TARIFF 

The tariff is a question that has divided the 
voters almost from the beginning of the' repub- 
lic. Many hold that so high a tax should be 
laid on imported articles that similar articles 
made in this country may be sold here for less 
than the cost of the imported article. This is 
known as a " tariff for the protection of Ameri- 
can industry.' ' Others claim that we should be 
benefited by allowing imported articles to come 
in free of duty, or at a rate just sufficient to pro- 
vide the government with needed revenue. The 
former view is known as " free trade," the latter 
as " tariff for revenue only." The " free trad- 



SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 155 

ers " claim that the people would be best off if 
allowed to buy their goods wherever they can 
get them the cheapest, while the " protection- 
ists " hold that our generally higher wages and 
better style of living, as compared with Euro- 
pean countries, are largely due to a protective 
tariff. 

GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP 

In most civilized countries the government 
owns and operates the telegraphs, as our gov- 
ernment owns and operates the post-offices. In 
some countries the government owns the rail- 
roads. Many cities own and operate their 
water-works and lighting systems, while some 
city governments own the street railroads. It 
is a question with many whether government 
or private ownership of industries like the tele- 
graph, telephone, railroads, lighting systems, 
water-works, and street railroads, gives better 
service to the people. 

When a single lighting company supplies an 
entire city with light, and there is no competing 
lighting system, the company is said to have a 
monopoly. In like manner, most street rail- 



156 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

roads are monopolies. The people are usually 
protected from unjust charges by such monopo- 
lies by laws fixing the rates for their service. 
Whether owned by the government or by pri- 
vate companies, it is certain that the people 
can secure the best service from such industries 
only when they are managed by experts and 
not by those who have secured places in them 
as the result of favoritism or " politics." 

DISPUTES BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR 

To-day we find combinations of laborers 
pitted against combinations of capitalists in 
the management of great industries, upon the 
successful conduct of which the comfort and 
prosperity of large numbers of people depend. 
When capitalists and laborers disagree there is 
often a " strike " or a " lock-out/' which, for 
the time being, stops all work in the particular 
industry, to the distress and loss of the public. 
Thus, street cars cease to run, coal is not mined, 
building operations stop, and the people must 
get along as best they can till the private war 
between Capital and Labor is fought out. Many 
people hold that labor organizations as well as 



SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 157 

corporations should be controlled in a way to 
make their members responsible to the law; 
and that, when a dispute arises between laborers 
and their empk^ers, both should be compelled 
to submit their differences to an impartial court 
of arbitration. This, it is claimed, would do 
away almost entirely with so-called " labor dis- 
turbances/' and result in mutual advantage to 
the disputing parties as well as to the public. 

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 

There is a growing feeling on the part of some 
that the voters do not take sufficient part in 
making the laws. Representatives of the voters 
are elected to the lawmaking bodies and then 
left to do much as they please. If a represen- 
tative chooses to disregard the wishes of those 
who elected him, they have no remedy except 
to refuse to re-elect him when his term of office 
expires. 1 As a partial remedy for such mis- 
representation it is suggested that the voters 

Certain high executive and judicial officers may be removed 
from office by a process known as impeachment. When a United 
States officer is impeached, the House of Representatives brings the 
charges against him, and he is tried before the United States Senate, 
which sits as a court. In the impeachment of a state officer, the 
assembly makes the charge and he is tried before the state senate. 



158 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

themselves have the power to propose laws. 
This is called the Initiative. When a certain 
number of voters petition for a law, the law- 
making body must, under the Initiative, frame 
the law and pass it. After a law has been 
passed by the lawmaking body, it is also pro- 
posed, when a certain number of voters petition 
for such action, to have the law submitted to 
the great body of voters for their adoption 
or rejection, much as proposed constitutional 
amendments are now submitted. This pro- 
cess is known as the Referendum. The Initia- 
tive and Referendum are widely practiced in 
the republic of Switzerland. 1 

Problems like these, with many others touched 
upon in this little book, cannot be settled " off 
hand " by the making of single laws. Their 
solution is more in the nature of a gradual 
growth. It depends very largely on the honesty 
and intelligence of the voters, and the selection 
of competent public officers to represent them 
in the different departments of government. 



1 They have also been placed in the constitutions of eighteen 
states and are being agitated in several others. 



SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 159 
PREPAREDNESS 

The United States has a vast territory. She 
has many good harbors and navigable rivers 
reaching into the interior. She has rich iron 
and coal mines. She has broad, fertile, and 
well-watered farm lands. It would seem that 
the United States has all that a nation could 
wish. You would not expect her to covet the 
possessions of other nations or feel jealous of 
them. 

The people who early came to America were 
persecuted in their own country. The later 
immigrants also came to us that they might live 
peacefully under a protecting government. This 
made us a peace-loving nation from the very 
first, busily engaged in developing the rich 
resources of our vast country. 

As a result of this our thoughts, as a nation, 
have been little concerned about war. For the 
last century we have not been molested by 
other nations, and, until this last terrible war 
in Europe, a great many people in the United 
States began to hope for universal peace be- 
tween nations. As a consequence we have a 
small army and navy, our coast defenses are 



160 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

incapable of resisting the large guns of modern 
warfare, our railroads are not built and organ- 
ized so as to move large bodies of troops quickly, 
and, in fact, we are in no respect prepared to 
repel a powerful invading army. 

Some people think that trouble between us 
and foreign powers may arise at any time and 
that we shall be at their mercy unless prepared 
to meet them on equal terms. They think that 
we might even be invaded by a foreign power 
that has developed a powerful army. These 
people think that we should make extensive 
preparation for war by greatly enlarging our 
army, by increasing the number of our battle- 
ships, and by building formidable coast defenses. 

On the other hand, a large number of people 
think that there is no danger of foreign inva- 
sion and that preparedness for war is not the 
best way to keep out of trouble with other 
nations. They say that the man who is trained 
to fight will generally find some excuse for fight- 
ing, and that it is the same with nations. They 
are convinced that if we prepare a large army, 
other nations will grow suspicious of us. They 
say that it is never true that " might makes 



SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 161 

right/ 7 that we must lead the nations of the 
world in adjusting all difficulties between them 
by fair and peaceful means, and do away with 
fighting between nations as we have between 
individuals. 

WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE 

Even in democratic countries, there has al- 
ways been a division of opinion as to who had 
the right to vote. Certain colonies gave the 
right to male members of the Puritan church. 
Some Connecticut colonies gave the right to 
householders or taxpayers. About a century 
ago universal manhood suffrage started in the 
new western settlements and spread eastward. 
By Civil War times all states had given men 
the right to vote. 

About this same time woman's suffrage was 
granted in Wyoming, and now, in 1916, has 
spread to eleven states west of the Mississippi 
and is being agitated in other states in all sec- 
tions of the country. Many more states give 
women partial voting rights, usually allowing 
them to vote on school questions. That the 
woman's suffrage question is one that people 



162 HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 

are thinking about with deep interest is shown 
by the fact that our Congress has considered an 
amendment to our national constitution that 
would give women equal voting rights with men 
in all states of the Union. 

PROHIBITION 

By prohibition is meant the doing away with 
the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, 
except for the purposes of the manufacturing 
industries, science, art, and medicine. Those 
who believe in prohibition say that it is ad- 
visable because annually vast sums are spent 
for intoxicants that result in great harm. Much 
of this money is spent by men who should use 
it to support their families, and as a result their 
wives and children are without sufficient food 
and clothing and are unhappy and poorly nour- 
ished. 

The use of intoxicating liquors not only is the 
cause of this misery, but it also makes men unfit 
to labor. A large number of our great rail- 
roads and industries refuse to employ men who 
use alcoholic beverages. Men who have made 
a study of the question tell us that one-half of 






SOME QUESTIONS DIVIDING THE VOTERS 163 

the crime is due to alcohol and that a large share 
of those in the poorhouses are there because they 
themselves drink, or because the one who should 
have supported them drank. 

Up to the present time (1916), eighteen states 
have passed prohibition laws, and a number of 
other states are considering such laws. Also 
a large number of towns and counties in other 
states have voted locally not to have alcohol 
sold within their territory. So at this time the 
sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in about 
three-quarters of the area of the United States. 

In 1914 a prohibition amendment was intro- 
duced in Congress and received a majority vote, 
but failed to pass because it did not receive the 
two-thirds vote required. 

The fact that prohibition is gradually being 
adopted by an increasing number of states, and 
that it had such a large vote in Congress, shows 
that it is a very important question. 

You, as future citizens, should study these 
questions, so that when you are old enough to 
vote you will have an intelligent opinion about 
them. 



164 



HOW THE PEOPLE RULE 



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INDEX 



Accused persons, rights of, 134, 

135. 
Agriculture, Department of, 

117. 
Aldermen, 58, 61, 74, 77. 
Mens, 28. 
Ambassadors, 109. 
Arbitration, 157. 
Arrest, 134. 
Articles of Confederation, 104, 

105. 
Assembly, 93. 
Assessors, 36, 58. 
Attorney-General, 94, 117. 
Auditors, 51. 
Australian ballot, 31, 141. 

Bail, 136. 

Ballot, 26, 141, 142. 

Banks, 110. 

Bill, 92. 

Borough, 55. 

"Boss," the, 145. 

Building Department, 70. 

Cabinet, 116, 117. 
Capital and labor, 156. 
Caucus, 146. 



Charter, 57, 73. 
Citizens, who are, 27, 28. 
City charter, 73. 

— council, 74. 

— courts, 79. 

— government, 63-82. 
Civil liberty, 125. 
Civil suits, 133. 
Collector, 37, 58. 

Colonies, the thirteen, 83, 84. 
Commerce, Department of, 

117. 
Comptroller, 94. 
Congress, 113. 
Constable, 52. 
Constitution, United States, 

105, 106. 
Constitution, how amended, 

120, 121. 
Consuls, 109. 
Continental Congress, 84. 
County, 46, 47, 96-100. 

— court, 100. 

— government, 98. 

Courts enumerated, 137, 138. 

Declaration of Independence, 
104. 



166 



INDEX 



Departments of government, 
22. 

Direct democratic govern- 
ment, 50. 

Direct primaries, 147. 

Election districts, 29. 

Electors, 115. 

Eminent domain, 127. 

Excise, 38. 

Executive Department, 22. 

Fence viewer, 51. 
Fire Department, 70. 
Franchise, 68, 75. 
" Free trade," 154. 

Government ownership, 155, 

156. 
Governor, 93. 
Governor's veto, 92. 
Grand jury, 135. 
11 Greenbacks," 109. 

Habeas Corpus, 128, 129. 
Health Department, 69. 
" Home rule," 80. 
House of Representatives, 113. 

Impeachment, 157. 

Indictment, 135. 

Initiative and Referendum, 

157, 158. 
Interior, Department of, 117. 

Judicial Department, 22. 
Jury, 52, 135, 136. 
Justice of the Peace, 52. 



Labor, Department of, 117. 
Legislative Department, 22. 
Legislature, State, 92, 93, 96. 
Liberty, right of, 125. 
Lieutenant Governor, 94. 
Lights, city, 67. 

Mail, carrying of, 107. 
Mayor, 58, 78. 
Mayor's veto, 78, 79. 
Money, United States, 109. 
Municipal corporation, 52, 53. 

Naturalization, 28, 108. 
Navy Department, 117. 
Nominating conventions, 147, 
148. 

Ordinances, 57, 75. 

Parks, 71. 

Police Department, 70. 

Police justice, 59. 

Political parties, 142. 

Poll tax, 38. 

Post-Office Department, 117. 

Pound keeper, 51. 

Preparedness, 159. 

President, 115. 

President's veto, 115. 

Presidential succession, 118. 

Primary, 146, 148. 

Prohibition, 162. 

Property rights, 126, 127, 132. 

" Protective tariff," 154. 



INDEX 



167 



Referendum, 157, 158. 
Representative government, 

50. 
Representatives, United States, 

113. 
Rights and duties, 123. 
Road commissioners, 51. 

Secretary of State, 94, 117. 

Security, right of, 125, 126. 

Selectmen, 49. 

Senate, State, 92. 

Senate, United States, 113. 

Sheriff, 99, 100. 

Shire, 97. 

State courts, 94, 96. 

— attorney, 100. 

— constitution, 87-89. 

— government, 83-102. 
— , how admitted, 85. 

— laws, 90-93. 

— Legislature, 91-93, 96. 

— officers, 93, 94. 

State, Department of, 117. 
Street railroads, 68. 
Streets, 64. 
Supervisor, 50. 
Supreme Court, State, 96. 
Supreme Court, United States, 
118. 

Tariff, 38, 154, 155. 

Taxes, 33-41. 

— , how laid, 36, 110. 



Thirteen Colonies, 83, 84. 
Town, 42-54. 
Town clerk, 48. 

— meeting, 48. 

— officers, 49-51. 
Township, 42, 43, 44. 
Treasury Department, 117. 
Treaties, 108. 

" Trust problem," 152, 153. 
Trustee, town, 50. 
— , village, 58. 

United States Constitution, 
105, 106. 

— courts, 118, 119. 

— government, 103-121. 

— territory, 111. 

Verdict, 137. 
Veto, 78, 79, 92, 115. 
Vice-President, 116, 117. 
Village charter, 57. 

— court, 59. 

— government, 55-62. 

— officers, 58, 59. 

— president, 58. 

Voters, qualifications of, 26, 

27, 29. 
Voting machines, 31. 

War Department, 117. 
Wards, 19, 20, 76. 
Warrant, 134. 
Wastes, city, 66. 
Water, city, 65. 
Woman's suffrage, 161. 



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